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Inexplicably bland

happydogpotatohead | New Orleans, LA USA | 09/06/2002

(2 out of 5 stars)

"You would think with the people involved with this - Peter Holsapple of the dB's, Vicki Peterson from the Bangles, Susan Cowsill from the Cowsills - this would be a guitar-pop gem. But...it's not. Most of the songs have clumsy lyrics that don't sing or scan well, with Holsapple's work being a particular offender in this department. Peterson's songs are the best ones here; her unerring ear for melody and harmony and her sparkling guitar playing do a lot for this CD. But the major problem here is the overall blandness. There's nothing on here that is particularly new or interesting sounding. The CD sounds like a reissue from any number of post-REM/dB's/Athens bands from the 80's. The production, which is flat and dulling, does not help in the least.The most distressing thing is the lack of original ideas here. For example, it has to be said that one song is a dead ripoff of a Richard Thompson tune, while "Invisible Boyfriend" is just a traditional Irish melody set to a remarkably pedestrian lyric.I wanted to like this CD a lot, since I like the participants' work in their other bands. I gave it a fair shot, but the unmemorable songs, the clumsy lyrics and the strangely flat production make this one of the most disappointing CD's I've ever endured listening to. They could do so much better than this."