Search - Joe Lally :: Nothing Is Underrated

Cool tension

T. M. Orange | 03/17/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Second solo outing from the former bass player for Fugazi, this recording has none of that group's taut fury. In fact its surprisingly sparse, given how Lally's debut reportedly verged on moments of prog/art rock. What little of Fugazi's wall-of-sound remains here is mostly in the form of electronics ("Scavenger's Garden"), sort of like the difference between Wire's Pink Flag and 154. A great formula for cool tension ("Day Is Born," "Tonight at Ten") or near-total ambient ("Motora") when it works best, but other times it doesn't seem to be getting too far."

Challenging

Mordikai Crump | Olympia, WA | 11/30/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"My review of Lally's last album, "There to Here", was lampooned by a few other commenters, so I will try to stay grounded. I think Lally's work is brilliant, and, like Fugazi, is not for everyone. You either love it or hate it, and there seems to be no room for indifference (if I were an artist I might want hate over indifference anyway). What you cannot detract from Joe is that he is a bass virtuoso, that he is a creative and novel thinker, and that he generally cares about art and people (I mention this because often caring for both seem mutually exclusive). I just saw him play with Capillary Action in Olympia and they were wonderful with him (and in their own right as well). This is not pop music, it is acquired, personal and thoughtful. You are supposed to dance only if you want to, but hearing this album and seeing him play I find that the dancing is fun and you will be left with a heartache. This is sad music for those of us who think the Cure is sentimentally dishonest. This is beautiful music made by musicians who came to play, not to pay the bills. You enjoy this not because it fits in some marketed and preordained "enjoyment box", but because it challenges you and takes you somewhere emotionally, irrespective of how you feel at the time you press play. Finally, this is political music, in the Aristotlian sense of polity, and "Mistaken Identity" exemplifies this claim."