A decent farewell album from a long-overlooked pop band
05/28/1998
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Over the course of four albums, the Judybats' sound smoothed and streamlined; the only reason to shelve the band in the "alternative" rack is because they never made it big. But their ensemble songwriting and infectious acoustic-electric arrangements, as well as Jeff Heiskell's versatile singing and quirky wordplay, kept the Knoxville, Tenn. quintet one of guitar pop's more interesting artists until their breakup a couple of years ago. Despite a handful of top-flight tracks (particularly "Don't Wait for Me" and "Stoned"), "Full-Empty," the `bats' final full-length disk, shows some overall slippage; a tepid cover of the Bee Gees' "Jive Talkin'" is surprisingly unimaginative. Start with a different Judybats release-but be ready to come back for this one if you like what you hear."