Aden
Topsiders
»
Aden
Topsiders
Teenbeat, 2002
RiYL: Kostars, Ween, Seam |
With their familiar brew of absolutely perfect guitar hooks and sweetly geeky lyrics, they summon up an idyllic world of card games and "time to play b-sides / take car rides," and you never want to leave. They've all grown a lot as musicians since Hey 19 and the lyrics (with the possible exception of the surreal "Mango Tree") are much less asinine -- which, I've got to say, was always my main complaint about that album.
Recorded by the band and mixed by consummate "Nashville parent" (to borrow a phrase from Lambchop, for whom he plays various noise-making concoctions of instruments) Mark Nevers, the album leaps between influences of Hawaiian music, classic indie rock, '70s-era orchestration, and country -- all very very delicately, as is Aden's way.
Let's just say that there's a little tin flute or recorder breakdown in one of the songs, and you find yourself whistling along. Let's then remind ourselves that there's a song called "Boggle Champs," for god's sake, and it reads like a college radio hit. Also, guitarist Kevin Barker actually joins frontman Jeff Gramm to sing on a couple of songs, which -- like seeing Robin Ventura on the Yankees -- at first seems unsettling, as Gramm's singing has always been the detail that Aden fans glommed onto, but Barker's vocals are easy to love and musically, a really smart move.
Aden's version of Barker's gem "Intertwining Hands," originally put on a 7" by his side project Currituck Co., is also a really smart move. The songwriting is clever, and having it played by the tight four-piece gives the song a whole new life. A piece of studio detritus before the track proclaims, "This is the one," and indeed, you could buy this album for "Intertwining Hands" (or for the fantastic, unnamed song that sneaks onto the end of the album) alone.
LILY KANE |