Pick It Up

I dig this long player. Yeah, they're influenced by GBV. How many times have you heard that one before? Still, this Minneapolis-by-way-of-Iowa City band's sound is uniquely their own -- an indie band with upbeat, catchy songs that isn't afraid to make a big noise when they should.

"Let's rock let's rock to the insulin shock" sums up the fist-in-the-air raver "The Diabetic Coma." "There's a narcissistic animal strapped into my engine" does the same for "Automobile." I don't know the meaning behind "I Believe Timothy McVeigh" ("I dropped a black cherry letter bomb on the government / now they want to take out my eyes"), but I suppose I should be upset. Instead I'm just confused. If there's a dark, underlying message beneath this album's sugar-coated surface I'm at a loss to find it.

back to   Posted Sept. 23, 2004. Copyright © 2004 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.