Albums by this artist

Seven More Minutes (1999)

The Rentals

Seven More Minutes

---

» BRADLEY SMITH | STAFF WRITER

The Rentals Seven More Minutes Maverick, 1999 RiYL: The Cars, Gary Numan, Weezer, Blur

The first Rentals album, Return Of The Rentals, vaguely sounded like a group of nerdy Russians with bad suits and worse glasses got together to create a "new-wave-American-pop-record," all eighties synth and heavy distorted bass. But Seven More Minutes, the new Rentals album sounds as if a group of nerdy Americans traveled to Europe, spent their nights drinking and partying in clubs, and wrote a record all about it (which is exactly what the Rentals' main man, Matt Sharp did).

At the heart of these songs, despite the European-club-chant choruses (think: "Tub-thumper" by Chumbuwumba but not so annoying), lie the power-pop melodies and song structures favored by Sharp's former band, Weezer.

Wisely Sharp has given the moogs and other vintage keys a back seat ride for this album. Sure the moog is what gave the first album a lot of its charm, but it also threatened to be its downfall. It was cute, but maybe a little too cute. It was kinda like raw cookie dough: really sweet and really yummy, but you can only stomach so much before you get sick.

However, retro-fiends don't fret. All the tweedly analog synths you love so much are still here. They're just used much more tastefully and don't seem like a tired gimmick.

Lyrically the album is all about going out to clubs and partying all night. The first song and single from the album, "Getting By," contains this chorus, characteristic of much of the record: "...and we don't really care about much, no / We don't need to lie (we don't need to lie) / We got nothing in common that I can see / We drink on, we drink on, we drink on... / And get by ...we're getting by."

The most entertaining songs on the album are those that push the boundaries of the group by introducing varying styles and genres. The two best examples of this are the countrified "She Says It's Alright" and "Big Daddy C," the sequel to the band's minor alternative hit "Friends of P." The latter employs to excellent effect the "Hey-Ho" chant from Naughty By Nature's "Hip-Hop Hooray" and also features a guest appearance from Blur's Damon Albarn, just one of the many brit-pop stars that make an appearance at the Matt Sharp party, other party-goers include Tim Wheeler of Ash, Donna Matthews of Elastica, and Miki Berenyi of Lush.

Ultimately, though the album feels a bit hollow and a bit long. Sure all night parties can be great, but one also yearns for the songs that document the depressing and disorienting feel of the "coming down" and the day after. What the album really needs is a song like "Sorted for E's and Wizz" by Pulp or nearly anything off of Tom Waits' Closing Time. "Jumping Around" comes close to this feel, but falls just short.

And what exactly is it with bands releasing horribly long albums these days? Used to be ten strong songs would suffice but these days albums are filled with so much filler. This trend is particularly upsetting coming from the Rentals, whose first album contained a short set of ten tracks. Still though, for all those that crave a little dose of Ric Ocasek style pop, this album will surely satisfy.

BRADLEY SMITH |