Creeper Lagoon
Take Back The Universe And Give Me Yesterday
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Creeper Lagoon
Take Back The Universe And Give Me Yesterday
DreamWorks, 2001
RiYL: Radiohead, Wheat, Built To Spill, Doves |
Still, one can't help sniffing out Creeper Lagoon as an above-average indie rock band swept into "next big thing" clothing by various mitigating forces. One need look no further than the production credits for Universe, where Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev) stands side by side with Jerry Harrison (Live, Verve Pipe) and Greg Wells (Crash Test Dummies) tag-teams with Mark Trombino (Jimmy Eat World). It's hard to recall an assemblage of production styles that clashed more obviously, but somehow, the resulting album is not a total disaster.
The main problem is that the band can't seem to figure out which sound suits itself best -- with so many cooks in the kitchen, who can blame them. The material is maddeningly inconsistent, sometimes in the course of the same song. A somewhat off-putting slickness permeates, while tracks are overloaded in creative constructions that only confuse the issue. Call it the OK Computer syndrome, whereby every up-and-coming rock band is determined to write anything but a conventional song.
When it all clicks, it's damn near glorious. "Wrecking Ball" threads an excitable acoustic guitar riff through a breathtaking chorus of big rock proportions, guaranteed to be sung aloud by the likes of you. "Up All Night" nails the sting of fucking up with another insanely memorable pre-chorus, translating 20-something reckless abandon into 3:10 of rock perfection. Opener "Chance Of A Lifetime" does it too, tiptoeing just far enough from generic plug-and-play schlock to awaken the ears.
There's several other near misses. "Naked Days" rewrites Radiohead's "Karma Police" with a gooey center (fretless bass, anyone?), while the otherwise pleasant "Sunfair" is given over to ill-fitting drum machine beats and vocals still damp from the echo chamber. "Lover's Leap" is weirdo, Flaming Lips-style psychedelia clearly inspired by Fridmann's work on the Lips' The Soft Bulletin.
It is interesting to hear the tug-of-war between stylistic sensibilities play itself out over the course of the album. But with so much other notable guitar-based music to choose from, the Creepers must decide whether to make a mad dash for the same old rock stardom or run the race on their own terms.
JONATHAN COHEN | Jonathan Cohen co-created Nude As The News with his Indiana University mates Troy Carpenter and Ben French. When not traversing the globe for business and pleasure, he holds down the fort as a senior editor for Billboard in New York. Stop him and he just may ask, "what for lunch?"