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Archive for February, 2013

Dav Pilkey–Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants (2000)

Posted in Boredom, Children's Books, Dav Pilkey, Funny (ha ha), Mad Scientists, The Diggity Dudes, Yuck! on February 18, 2013| Leave a Comment »

poopySOUNDTRACK: THE DIGGITY DUDES-“Grover Cleveland” (2012).

groverIn honor of Presidents’ Day, I offer you this song by The Diggity Dudes.

This song talks about some of the less famous presidents (Grover Cleveland, James K. Polk (doesn’t get any credit at all), William Henry Harrison, Rutherford B. Hayes (actually I feel like he’s pretty well known, no?)).

But what I like best is how they say there are so many Presidents, they can’t get through them in a three minute song.  Or can they?  Yes indeed.

So there’s a fun and fast list of all of the Presidents (mostly last names).  The song is recent enough that Barack Obama is included as well.  Although their list is not terribly catchy, it does get all of the Presidents in.  And the “take your time, check the list and remember them all” section is certainly catchy.

Do you remember them all?

[READ: February 16, 2013] Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants

The books keep getting bigger and the cast of characters keeps getting larger (like Mr Rected and Miss Labelled).  This book also introduces us to Professor Pippy P (which stands for Pee-Pee) Poopypants who hails from New Swissland.  Professor Poopypants’ name is not unusual in New Swissland–everyone’s name is preposterous there (like Jiggles T. Chunkyskunks, for example).  But when Professor Poopypants tries to show off his amazing new shrink ray and enlarging ray, he is laughed at constantly for his name.

This makes him mad.  And he will seek revenge.

Like the other Captain books, this one opens with a comic by George and Harold which recaps the other books (their comic is also longer than the others).  And unsurprisingly, the story opens with the boys getting in trouble.  This time they switch the school sign to read Don’t Fart in a Diaper. But they are nabbed red-handed by Professor Krupp.  Their punishment is to clean the teacher’s lounge while the rest of the school goes on an awesome field trip.

So they do what they do best–a very very funny take on tarring and feathering (totally justified, those teachers are MEAN!).  But after the prank, their science teacher Mr. Fyde (ha!) quits.

Mr Krupp doesn’t know how he will replace the science teacher.  But when Professor Poopypants reads about the open Poisson  he imagines it as a way to get respect from the scientific community.  And, he knows it’s a good place to start because he can get respect in the school–little kids are so sweet and understanding. (more…)

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Roddy Doyle–The Meanwhile Adventures (2004)

Posted in Adventure, Babies, Children's Books, Dustin the Turkey, Funny (ha ha), Irish Writer, Poo, Roddy Doyle, Short Books, Yuck! on February 17, 2013| Leave a Comment »

meanwhileSOUNDTRACK:  DUSTIN THE TURKEY-“Funky Ford Cortina” (1994).

dustinDustin is a turkey.  Dustin has had hit singles.  Dustin has even run for President of Ireland.

If you recall pop hits from a bygone era you may be able to tell exactly what this song is a parody of.

And it is a straight up parody of the song.  Perhaps the funniest thing about it is Dustin’s heavy Dublin accent rapping these words.  And, of course, thinking of a Ford Cortina as being funky.

This song will never, ever get old.

[READ: February 3, 2013] The Meanwhile Adventures

The final book in this silly trilogy throws out all the stops.  And at 174 pages it’s considerably larger than the previous two.

Once again, I can’t help but feel that Doyle must have had so much fun writing this anarchic absurdity.  Especially after his far more serious books–this must have felt like a breath of fresh (poo filled) air.

This story is cheeky right from the start with an italicized reader interrupting the story constantly to say that it is boring.

Once upon a  time there was a little girl who lived in a house made of gingerbread–
Boring

But eventually it gets going.  Mister Mack, the head of household for all three books was laid off from his job as a biscuit tester (remember kids, biscuit means cookie in Ireland).  People in Ireland were dieting so they were only going to be selling the dry boring cream crackers (which Mister Mack hated) from now on.  So he decides to become an inventor.  And he invents a saw that looks just like a machine gun.  (Why?  Why not).  But when he brings the saw to the bank to apply for a loan, he is arrested because everyone thinks it’s a gun. (more…)

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Roddy Doyle–Rover Saves Christmas (2001)

Posted in Babies, Children's Books, Dustin the Turkey, Funny (ha ha), Irish Writer, Poo, Roddy Doyle, Short Books, Trilogy, Yuck! on February 16, 2013| Leave a Comment »

roverSOUNDTRACK:  DUSTIN THE TURKEY-“Irelande Douze Pointe” (2008).

irelandeIn 2008, Ireland nominated this song to the Eurovision contest.  Dustin, for those not in Europe, is a turkey puppet from a kids show (with a number of hit singles, apparently).

The title is a misspelling of the French for Ireland and Douze Pointe translates as 12 Points (because 12 is the highest result you can get in the contest).  The song begins as a wobbly sorta traditional-sounding Irish ballad about how he comes from a nation of great songwriters (Ireland has won Eurovision 7 times, although interestingly had not been doing so well in the years leading up to 2008).

Then it turns into a more suitably Eurovision song–a rollicking high energy dance, with flashing lights, sparkly costumes and a chorus that goes G-O-double B-L-E.

The reaction is pretty funny with lots of boos in the audience.  Shockingly, it did not come last that year, although it failed to make it into the finals.

Check it out in all of its absurd glory:

[READ: February 3, 2013] Rover Saves Christmas

The Giggler Treatment proved to be Part One of a trilogy (Doyle really has a thing for trilogies).  Rover Saves Christmas is the second in the series.  It doesn’t really follow as a part two or anything although the characters are all the same.

The title pretty much gives away the action here.  Rover, the dog from Giggler who sells his poo, is called upon by a Christmas elf to help save Christmas because Rudolph is under the weather (he’s taking his day off on the one day of the year when he works).  And so, they strap Rover into the sleigh and off they go.

And really that’s pretty much all of the book.  But the humor (and there’s a lot of humor) comes in the details.

Like that the book opens with a description of Dublin at Christmastime: “the lizards were wearing flip-flops and the cacti that line the streets of the city were gasping.”  Irish kids will find this hilarious.  American kids may not know that that’s not what Dublin is like, but that’s their own fault.  There’s also the funny repeated joke of the two toddlers knowing how to say only one thing “Who are you?” and “bum bum,” but those who know them well know what they mean each time they say it.  Which leads to very funny results.  And also leads the reader to be confused until he or she remembers that the baby saying “Who are you” means something else. (more…)

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Dav Pilkey–The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby: The First Graphic Novel By George Beard and Harold Hutchins (2002)

Posted in Babies, Children's Books, Dav Pilkey, Funny (ha ha), Poo, Short Books, The Doubleclicks, Yuck! on February 15, 2013| Leave a Comment »

sdbSOUNDTRACK: THE DOUBLECLICKS “Worst Superpower Ever” (2012).

worst

A simple strummed acoustic guitar plays slowly as the singer lists a series of Super Powers you may or may not want.  The cello comes in on the second verse  where the actual superpowers aren’t that great either.

The strange thing is that the worst super power options really aren’t that bad–not great super powers I agree, but being able to predict what someone else will wear is certainly not worse than a lot of other powers one could have.

I really want to love this band, but I fear that they’re always not quite but almost awesome.  Still, there are worse things you could be than that.

[READ: January 22, 2013] The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby

I am disappointed in myself for having read this out of sequence (Super Diaper Baby comes after Captain Underpants book 5).

The premise behind this graphic novel is that George and Harold, co-creators of Captain Underpants are being punished (yet again).  They must write a 100 page paper about being a good citizen.  But, and this is the important part, Principal Krupp says they can’t make a Captain Underpants comic (which they can’t understand as the Captain is a great citizen!).

But Krupp never said they couldn’t make a  new comic.  And lo, the birth of Super Diaper Baby.  There’s some wonderful funny jokes in the beginning like when the nurse says “name” and they say they haven’t picked one yet, but she means their name (that misunderstanding kind of joke gets reused a few times for more hilarious results).

Just as normal baby Billy is being born (and there’s a very funny “Billy Don’t be a Hero” joke that no kids will ever get), Deputy Dangerous and Danger Dog are up to no good.  They trap Captain Underpants and get ready to drink a formula that gives them super powers.  First Danger Dog takes some and is able to fly.  But before Deputy Dangerous can take any, the police chase him and he rides off on Danger Dog.

When the doctor goes to spank Billy for the first time, he launches the baby right out the window (a crazy joke that really made me laugh) and into the magic potion that Deputy Dangerous was carrying.  And in glorious Flip-O-Rama (which is all over this book!) Super Diaper Baby is realized (and beats up the Deputy).

The Deputy seeks revenge and in a sequence that had me laughing for easily five minutes (because I am clearly eight years old), the plans go horribly wrong and involve a dirty diaper.  It was a fairly obvious joke and yet something about the fact that he actually did it (and the subsequent name calling) was just too funny. (more…)

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Cynthia Ozick–“The Bloodline of the Alkanas” (Harper’s, February 2013)

Posted in Anachronisms, Cynthia Ozick, Dinosaur Jr., Guided By Voices, Harper's, Marriage (Happy), Poets, Sebadoh, Short Story, The Capstan Shafts on February 14, 2013| Leave a Comment »

02013SOUNDTRACK: THE CAPSTAN SHAFTS-Revelation Skirts (2010).

capstanI’d never heard of the Capstan Shafts when Sarah bought this disc for me for Christmas a few years ago.  (It was in the NPR recommended discs for 2010).  Turns out the band has been around for nearly 20 years but have been making home recordings with little publicity for much of that time.  They (he, really, as it has always been one guy) finally decided to release a proper album with a second guy in the band.  I wouldn’t have known any of that if I hadn’t looked it up just now–because even with the accolades, this is still a low selling record.  I also wouldn’t have known that for some fans this album is the commercial sellout for this band who usually makes weird personal songs.  And yet I like this album a lot–and it is plenty weird.  Or perhaps a little weird-sounding–like the buzzing noisy guitars (which I guess are from the “new guy”).

The songs are pretty straightforward folkie indie rocky.  They are bouncy and poppy, and the buzzy guitar solos adds a nice contrast to that bounciness   There’s an air of Guided by Voices (“Let Your Head Get Wrong”, with the singer’s slightly faux British accent (he sounds like about half a dozen different singers throughout the disc).   There’s definitely a feel of 90s rock here–maybe Sebadoh (“Little Burst of Sunshine”) or even Dino Jr (“Versus the Sad Cold Eventually”).  The album has 14 songs in 30 minutes–and it feels like a full record–there’s not a lot of shilly-shallying with solos or extended verses, and yet the song are not fast punk tracks either–the pace is leisurely.

I really enjoyed this record and I like popping it in from tome to time for a good album that will never be overexposed.

[READ: February 5, 2013] “The Bloodline of the Alkanas”

I found this story to be quite challenging.  The prose was awkward and not very fluid.  I found it slow going until the end, but even that seemed a mite slower than necessary.

This story has three informal parts.  The first shows the narrator’s parents–her father is Cyrus Alkana, a poet who believes in older, more formal rules of poetry.  He is passionate, but far more passionate about his dislike for more modern writers, especially Alexander Alcott to whom he writes nasty letters.  Or actually his wife writes them–she does everything for him believing unquestioningly in his genius.  She works a full time job then comes home and takes care of the house and also types his correspondence.

The parents have no respect for the narrator because she did not receive The Bestowal–what they call the poetic gift.  The narrator doesn’t care about any of that–she explicitly states that she doesn’t know half of the poets that her father admires.  Consequently, her parents show her no respect.

Cyrus can’t seem to get published anywhere.  His wife unfailingly sends out his poems but they receive nothing.  Finally, she decides to bundle up his work and to include a cover letter expressing how wonderful the work inside is.  We later learn that the name she put on the letter was Alexander Alcott.  Obviously, this would show an instant sign of respect and it would be a rather shocking development in the land of poetry.  Especially when the publisher agrees to publish the book only if Alcott’s accolades are included.

The narrator is understandably freaked out about this–her mother is publicly defrauding another (far more famous) writer–surely there will be hell to pay.  But her mother is not concerned in the least.  She says that Alcott will be happy for the publicity.  After its publication  critics do talk about it–most wondering what happened to Alcott to endorse such a poet, but there is never any formal repercussion.  And no word from Alcott at all. (more…)

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Robert Leonard Reid–“That Doubling is Always Observed” (Harper’s, February 2013)

Posted in Dance, Harper's, Robert Leonard Reid, Short Story, Trenchmouth on February 13, 2013| Leave a Comment »

02013SOUNDTRACK: TRENCHMOUTH-More Motion: A Collection (2003).

moremotionSeven years after they broke up, a Trenchmouth compilation was released.  Does a band with four albums, no chance of hits and a bizarre evolution of sound warrant a collection?  Well, in that most of their discs are out of print?  Yes.  In that Fred Armisen has become more and more famous and people might be curious what his band sounded like? Sure.

The fact that there are a few rare songs is a nice feature, although again, most of these albums are hard to find anyhow, so they’re almost all rare.  But what this disc really shows is the fascinating evolution of the band from noisy punks to smooth dubsteppers.  I have two of their albums and that progression is not really clear, but hearing them all laid out in chronological fashion it all becomes apparent.

The early songs are noisy and  jittery–the kind of songs that they would perfect on their second album, they’re just not quite as screamy.  As if they haven’t quite pushed the envelope far enough.  “Making Money for the Freak Machine” comes from an early 7″.  The song is challenging because of several abrupt halts–the song sounds like it ends but then after a longer than expected pause it resumes with a bass heavy reintroduction.  “Gold” and “The Volcanic Action of My Soul” show the kind of music they would be known for–bass heavy, noisy guitars and chanted choruses.  “Volcanic” in particular rocks hard (and the chorus is great).  Armisen’s drumming is great too.

The bulk of the songs of the collection come from Inside the Future and they are really a highlight.   They sound great in this context, too.  There’s also five songs from Vs the Light of the Sun.  Hearing the music chronologically like this, you can hear that the band is moving away from the frenetic punk and into a more dub style.  Although there’s still a lot of noise and noodly guitar solos and such.

By the last four songs, the dubstep version of Trenchmouth is fully in play.  The jangling wild guitar solos have been replaced by subtle echoing guitar notes.  The bass is as wild as ever, but the pace is slower  The instrumental “Contrast Beneath the Surface  is downright mellow–things seem calmer without Damon Locks sing/screaming).  The final song is live and the audience really responds.

The switch to the dub sound is an interesting choice–possibly a chance to make more money although it seems like jumping from an unpopular niche to a more unpopular niche.  Did their later live shows have both sides of the band?  That would be crazy.  Nevertheless, this is a good collection of songs from an underrated and really, unknown band.

[READ: February 5, 2013] “That Doubling is Always Observed”

I don’t know Robert Leonard Reid.  And I don’t understand this story at all.  I don’t even really understand this type of story–it is a very detailed history of a fictional thing.  It’s not so much a story as a historical background–told in sections that sound very formal and official.

The story is about the kupuestra which appears to be some kind of un-sensual dance.  Reid devotes many paragraphs to explaining this “dance” and its unsensual nature.

Edward Vekner was the father of the kupuestra, although that seems to have been accidental–his heart attack appears to have inspired others to emulate his moments.  There’s also someone named Lop, a woman who sank into the kupuestra (which means she was very good at it).  Lop was brittle like a cracker and the color of bacon grease–in other words, perfect. (more…)

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David Almond, Eoin Colfer, Roddy Doyle, Deborah Ellis, Nick Hornby, Margo Lanagan, Gregory Maguire, Ruth Ozeki, Linda Sue Park, Tim Wynne-Jones–Click: One Novel Ten Authors (2007)

Posted in Beach House, Boredom, Boxing, Cocteau Twins, David Almond, Death, Deborah Ellis, Eoin Colfer, Gregory Maguire, Linda Sue Park, Margo Lanagan, My Bloody Valentine, Nick Hornby, Roddy Doyle, Ruth Ozeki, Tim Wynne-Jones, Travel, War on February 12, 2013| Leave a Comment »

clickSOUNDTRACK: BEACH HOUSE-Teen Dream (2010).

teendreamI didn’t know Beach House until this album got huge raves in end of the year lists.  I decided to investigate it and I was really pleasantly surprised by the album’s Cocteau Twins meets My Bloody valentine feel.  I have recently read that their first two albums were not quite as big and full and orchestral as this album, which meant that this one marked a recording (but not necessarily song stylistic) change for the band.  Part of me wants to hear what the earlier, more homemade version of the band sounds like, and yet I like the full almost orchestrated feel of this album so much that I can’t imagine going back to a less big sound.

The album opens with a delicately reverbed guitar riff—it feels warm and summery and then the angelic voices kick in and the ahhhs launch the song into the stratosphere.  And it pretty much stays there for the whole album.  There’s virtually no bass and only the slightest hints of drums (time-keeping measures rather than percussion).  Well, okay, “Better Times” has drums but even they are mild.  Victoria Legrand’s voice just soars, sometimes in staccato bursts, but mostly in otherworldly seeming falsetto (with occasion moments when she sounds kind of masculine and yet still angelic–it’s an amazing range).  There’s mostly reverbed guitars but on some tracks like “Used to Be” there are keyboards as well.  They’re even more prevalent (and more 80s sounding) on “Lover of Mine.”

Despite the sameness of the songs, the album doesn’t feel like one song repeated over.  The melodies are unique and the composition of the songs really shows a lot of diversity within a format.  Like “10 Mile Stereo” which has a faster pace than the other but still maintains that ethereal vibe.  Or “Real Love” which introduces a piano into the mix, and the song feels a little less ethereal, but only a little.  The album is also not too long.  It’s like a wonderful blast of summer.

The CD comes with a DVD with videos for each song, although I have not watched them yet.

[READ: February 11, 2013] Click

I discovered this story because it was listed in Roddy Doyle’s bibliography on Wikipedia.  I’m somewhat surprised that I’d never heard of it as I know so many of the authors that were involved (indeed, several of them are involved in the 39 Clues, another multiple author series).  This book is billed as a YA book and I guess it is as many of the sections are about teenagers, but some characters grow old and there’s some talk of the bombing of Hiroshima which may be a bit intense (there’s no pictures and no detailed descriptions, but still…).  It is a quick read though, so I guess it can qualify as YA.

The story is about a photographer named Gee (real name George Keane) and how he impacted so many lives.  In the first story/chapter (each chapter is like a short story that contributes to the overall picture and each one of these is written by someone different), written by Linda Sue Park, we learn that Gee has just died.  He left his granddaughter Maggie (who I came to think of as the “main” character, even though she doesn’t appear in every story) a box with seven compartments.  In each compartment was a shell with a clue, suggesting that she should take all of the shells back to where they came from–a subtle encouragement to travel the world.  But Maggie is utterly distressed by Gee’s death and she can’t get off the couch where she used to spend time with him.  Eventually her parents offer to take her to one of those locations–Japan–getting her life started at last. (more…)

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J. Torres & J. Bone–The Collected Alison Dare: Little Miss Adventures 2 (2005)

Posted in Adventure, Boredom, Children's Books, Egyptology, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, J. Bone, J. Torres, Marriage Trouble, Nazis, Pirates, Portlandia, Religion, Short Books on February 11, 2013| Leave a Comment »

alsion1SOUNDTRACK: THE DOUBLECLICKS-Pirates!  The PPDXYAR EP (2012).

pdxyarI wanted to explore more of The Doubleclicks’ music, and their site showed off this EP.  It was made for Talk Like a Pirate Day (you’re already sold, right?) and EP is a tribute to the Portland Pirate crew of PDXYAR (whatever that is).  The first song is “The Pirates of PDXYAR highlights what I’ve come to understand is the real Doubleclicks sound: ukulele and cello.  But this one also has a host of backing vocals (make and female).  The song is all about the pirates of PDXYAR and how they came to be and how the represent Portland.

The second song “How Not to Touch a Pirate” is a simpler song which insists that, tempting as it may seem, you should NOT be touching any of the pirates (this seems like a real inside joke).  Its amusing and would probably be funnier if I knew more about PDXYAR.  And oops, this song even has an F-bomb at the end–watch out!

The final track is a remix of “The Pirates of PDXYAR, ”  And mostly it allows more funny backing vocals.  It’s a better, funnier track because of it.

I’m not sold on The Doubleclicks yet.  I like them, but I think more in small doses.

So it turns out that PDXYAR is a Portland-based pirate crew, which you can read about on their website.  The lyrics to the song seem to explain  the origins of the pirates (kickstarter).  Frankly, I don’t know why the pirates (and the Doubleclicks) haven’t appeared on Portlandia yet.

[READ: February 7, 2013] Alison Dare: Little Miss Adventures 2

Volume 2 of Alison Dare is just as fun as Volume 1.  Although I admit the first story was a little confusing (I was never really sure exactly how these books were published originally, so it wasn’t clear that the first few stories were connected.  Although in retrospect it seems obvious enough.

In the first story, “What I Did on My Summer Vacation” it’s obvious that Alison doesn’t have much in the way of the excitement that girls expect from her.  So she makes up an elaborate story which all of the girls (except her two close friends) find wonderful   In “The Unbelievable Truth” we see what really happened (and we see that Alison’s story wasn’t far off, but that details make all the difference).

In “The Perfect Gift” the Blue Scarab (aka Alison’s dad) searches for the perfect gift for his daughter.  But that proves harder than he thought, especially when she accidentally takes a precious jewel that he has recovered in a mission.  In “A Day at the Museum” the girls open something they shouldn’t and unleash a plague.  This ties to the previous story in an unexpected way.  And in “The Gift Exchange” the previous two stories come together for a satisfying conclusion. (more…)

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Hergé–Tintin: The Blue Lotus (1936) [translated 1983]

Posted in Adventure, Children's Books, Culture Shock, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Gangsters, Hergé, Kids Corner, Leslie Lonsdale-Cooper, Michael Turner, Racism, The Doubleclicks, Translation, Travel on February 10, 2013| Leave a Comment »

TintinLotusSOUNDTRACK: THE DOUBLECLICKS-“The Internet National Anthem” (2012).

inatThe Doubleclicks are a sister duo from Portland, Oregon.  They are nerdy and fun (perhaps we can think of them as non-accordion, female They Might be Giants?).  Take “The Internet National Anthem”,” a song  with a steady four/four beat, cellos and  a suitably anthemic chorus, that’s all about the internet.

I was introduced to this band from Kid’s Corner, although I feel that perhaps their songs aren’t really for kids (not that they’re inappropriate but they seem more sophisticated than a typical kids song.  Like this song has big words and it is quite funny.  Although in all honesty it’s not laugh out loud funny, just mildly funny.  It’s got the vibe of Garfunkel and Oates, but not the big guffaws.

Check out their albums here .

[READ: February 8, 2013] The Blue Lotus

This third (technically fifth) Tintin book is the continuation of Cigars of the Pharaoh.  One of the characters from Pharaoh returns in this book, despite the fact that it is set in China.  This book also continues with Hergé’s having it both way in terms of other races.  His drawings are caricaturey and depending on your sensibilities/appreciation for drawing skills/tolerance are either really racist or simply in poor taste (although it does seem to be that the bad characters of other races are the most offensive–the good people are less crazy).

But despite the visual insensitivity, there are several section where Hergé explicitly talks about tolerance and understanding between races.  Like when Tintin saves the young Chinese boy, Chang, who says he thought all white devils were wicked.  Tintin explains that white people believe stupid things about Chinese people too  (eating rotten eggs, tons of unwanted babies in their rivers, etc.).  Chang says “They must be crazy people in your country).  As it turns out (quoting Wikipedia ), “The Blue Lotus is a pivotal work in Hergé’s career, moving away from the stereotype and loosely connected stories and marking a new-found commitment to geographical and cultural accuracy. The book is also amongst the most highly regarded of the entire Tintin series, and was the 18th greatest book on Le Monde’s 100 Books of the Century list.”  It’s quite progressive for the 1930s.

The plotlines from the previous book are continued: there is the poison that makes you crazy, the Pharaoh’s logo shows up and there are Indian characters returning as well.  And by the end Thompson and Thompson, the twin policeman who complicate each others sentences and prove to be more bumbling than we originally thought arrive to capture Tintin (although they believe in Tintin’s goodness–they’re only following orders, you see). (more…)

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Bannister & Nykko–The ElseWhere Chronicles Book Four: The Calling (2009) & Book Five: The Parting (2011) [translated 2010/2011]

Posted in Bannister, Boredom, Carol Klio Burrell, Children's Books, Fantasy, Fears, Garbage, Nykko, Short Books, Supernatural on February 9, 2013| Leave a Comment »

elsewhere4SOUNDTRACK: GARBAGE-Not Your Kind of People (2012).

notyourkinddAfter Bleed, I had basically given up on Garbage.  And they had given up as well, so it made the breakup easier.  For seven years they stayed away, but in 2012 the band reunited and released Not Your Kind of People.  I wasn’t planning to get it–two great albums and two very mediocre albums l leave a listener with a tough decision   But I heard good things–a return to form, less dance more rock and I gave in.

And it was a good choice.  The slickness is still there, which makes sense given who we are dealing with, but it feels more powerful than recent albums and, even better, Manson seems angrier which always makes her vocals better.

“Big Bright World” could have been a hit (for a new band) although it’s a little generic.  “Blood for Poppies” returns to that good grungy guitar sound and yet with its “Wo Ho Ohs” it also has pop song trappings.  “Control” is big and loud with some interesting sounds thrown on top.  It’s probably the closest to 2.0  Even the chorus is very old school Garbage, something they seemed to shy away from on the last two albums.

“Not Your Kind of People is a slow ballady type song but it stands above their recent ballads–the song is cleaner and darker, much more interesting.  And given how sweet the backing vocals of the chorus sound, I’m surprised I like it as much I do.  “Felt” has a real “Stupid Girl” feel to it, except for the poppy bridge.  I don’t like the end where she repeats the Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh bit, but that’s just something I dislike about pop music in general.  “I Hate Love” brings in all of the glitches and electronics that the band uses so effectively, and despite the retro-90s feel of that, it really adds to the music.  “Sugar” is a beautiful slow song. The kind that, when they do it well, sounds great.

“Battle in Me”  is almost a great song.  The guitar builds and then stops short–it worked so well on “Supervixen” but sounds just too sterile here–the technology too crisp or something   But “Man on a Wire” does everything right–the guitars, Shirley’s screaming/singing, the rough guitars–it’s a shame this is buried so far down on the album.  “Beloved Freak” is a nice closer although as I complained from “Special” quoting someone else’s song in your song is cool once, but dong it again sounds lazy. So here we get her ending the song with a line from “This Little light of Mine” which doesn’t work and rather than making you smile like it did on Special it makes you go, “Huh?”  Plus as anyone who ever wrote a paper knows, never end with someone else’s words!

Still, this is a nice return to creative excitement from the band.  And while it never reaches the majesty of their first two albums it comes close to some of their past glories.

[READ: February 1, 2013] The ElseWhere Chronicles Book Four and Five

After a hiatus, Bannister & Nykko return with what feels like a new version of The Elsewhere Chronicles.  The look of the art is slightly different.  It’s clearly the same artist but the lines and angles look a little different on the characters–just a wee bit harsher.  It’s odd.  But it shows that things are a little different now.

The setting is nine moths after the end of book three.  Max has not spoken to any of the others since the lat book when his mother slapped him. Indeed, he’s been hanging around with his brother and his brother’s friends who are no good (especially to Max).  But Theo and Noah had rescued a bunch of things from Grandpa Gabe’s house.  They stored them safely somewhere before the house was demolished.  Meanwhile, Rebecca has been ill and hasn’t seen any of them.  She believes that the illness was caused in the other world and knows she needs to return there to get better.

Max is having a hard time with his new gang  They don’t respect him at all and he actually hates hanging around with them all.  In fact they just kicked him out of their gang and he is sulking when he believes he sees Rebecca.  Could she really have returned?  He follows her as she goes to her grandpa’s house.  She starts to break down when she sees that it was demolished.  She’s about to despair when and old friend sees her and gives her comfort.

Noah and Theo show her that they have Gabe’s possessions.  And they show her that the have figured out how to use the machine.  So they reactivate the passageway and the three of them return to the other world.  Before we can really see what happens over there, Max heads off to the hiding place.  He also passes through the passageway where he runs into Gabe who (after threatening to kill Max) offers to drive him to where Rebecca and the boys must be.

They arrive just as Rebecca and friends sneak into a cave.  Gabe says that the cave leads to nothing but danger.  And as the book ends, we see that that is true…. (more…)

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