The new Pretenders' album is o.k. I like a few songs very much. I like the whole of it a little. It just might grow on me, so I'll reserve any scathing reviews or disappointments for a month or so from now when I'm settled into it. For now it's just fine. I have three or four tracks that I really like and I think the rest will be good soon. Does this happen to you? I really need a month or so to digest a new album by someone whose work I know and love.

My favorite track, by far is "Almost Perfect." It's frankly, well... er, almost perfect! Chrissie Hynde's voice is spectacularly melodic, soulful, emotive and wistful. Like Amy Ray on "She's Got To Be," you desperately want her to sing this song to you. The musical accompaniment is simple, it's all about the vocals. And I love songs like that. I also love songs that are all about guitars or all about the tense interplay between rhythm and bass, but there's something about a woman's voice that makes me go all gooey in the right places. What can I say? And a song like this that pushes that voice out there in front, that presents it to you like the way a good dancer presents his partner to the audience, is a beautiful thing to me. It's funny how gendered I think of life, of music despite my best intentions.

But... there's something bothering me beyond all that about this almost perfect song. This song is most decidedly not perfect. Two thirds of the way through Chrissie Hynde clears her throat. (It's a the 3:26 mark if you care to confirm.)

Why did they leave that in the final cut? Is that some sort of joke on the theme of the song? Some sort of nod to the imperfection of it? I know I should overlook it or celebrate the humanity of it or some such nonsense but honestly, it bugs the shit outta me! I realize she made this record in 10 days (foolish woman) but could she seriously not take the time and money to do another take? Tell me why this is acceptable in these days of digital recording. Tell me why this shouldn't matter in this song. Is it irony? Am I, as usual, over thinking the thing? Oh someone, put me out of my misery!

I must say, it's difficult to continue to suffer from a song with the lyrics... "paranoia drug addicted pornographically afflicted ... sleep with me..." If that's not Tart-able, I don't know what is.

Let's take comfort together in my next favorite track, "You Didn't Have To" which is just a lovely, and totally, Pretender-ish love song. The country twanginess of it is complimentary to her slip-sliding vocals. The steady rhythm lets her wander in such a sweet way over the words and notes to tell us how this one let her be just that free. I love that about this song. And in lust and love, I often do feel that kind of gratitude.

Almost Perfect mp3 The Pretenders Break Up The Concrete
You Didn't Have To mp3 The Pretenders Break Up the Concrete
(don't worry, there's more rockin' tracks on the album, I only picked the slow ones)
buy it

Do you still listen to the music you loved in high school? Lately, I'm beginning to feel that the worse the news gets, the more us 30 and 40 somethings retreat into our past, into the music we cut our teeth on during the last great economic downturn.

Every semi serious music lover experiences changes in their musical taste as they become exposed to more and different kinds of genres. Part of blogging about music, for me, is looking back on how I received new music at different points in my life and comparing those memories to how I listen now. A great post over on Pretending Life Is Like A Song has me reminiscing and analyzing my transition from guitar-driven rock and roll to Punk and New Wave music in the early 80s. Adam unravels the meaning of "Alison" by Elvis Costello in both an academic and quite personal way -- this is great blogging folks, check it out.

And yes, Elvis Costello was pivotal for my transition. Other groups of the time also opened my eyes to a less regional sound (southern USA, "hard rock" bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Outlaws, The Allman Brothers, Molly Hatchet and Tom Petty dominated the airwaves where I lived. I took that to simply be what rock music was, not knowing how much more there could be). Soon, like everyone my age, I was lapping up everything the UK could offer me and American bands were evolving as well. But Elvis Costello--he was first.

This transition morphed into a very important social marker in highschool. There were three crowds to fit into: The Jocks/Preps, The Nerds/Geeks, and The Stoners. As you might guess they were closely aligned with social class, identified by the kind of clothes you wore, and the grades you earned. Until Punk and New Wave music hit, I had firmly been a member of The Stoner crowd. We liked our Southern Rock just fine, and threw it back with a hefty shot of Jack Daniels, a Budweiser chaser and some imported Colombian you-know-what. Football games were spent under the bleachers, Saturday nights saw us huddled around a blanket on the beach getting high to the sounds of a car radio.

Then the 80s hit and I began to find a niche academically. New Wave and Punk music had a cache that tore me out of my stupor, the lyrics were witty and meaningful. Reagan and Thatcher were gutting the working class, the mentally ill, and the children while the upper classes' wealth grew. My teenage angst was in high gear. I knew I'd never be "cool" but I might as well enjoy pretensions of Continentalism now if I were to ever escape my little beach town. I dreamed of college, Socialism, travel, love- all things that my Stoner friends hated with justifiable class resentment. But academics might be a way out, I reckoned and indeed, I was one of the lucky few who did make it. Music propelled me to aspire to larger things, it still does.

So the first major transition occurred. Another big one would happen about 10 years later, but that's another post....

Goodbye Stranger Supertramp Breakfast In America, buy it
Kid The Pretenders Singles, buy it
Is She Really Going Out With Him Joe Jackson, Classic Joe Jackson, buy it
Cockney Kids Are Innocent Sham 69 The Punk Singles Collection 1977-80, buy it