Sportsguitar
Happy Already
»
Sportsguitar
Happy Already
Matador, 1999
RiYL: Pavement, Weezer, Guided By Voices |
Consider the Swiss unit a sort of a European Pavement.Happy Already is the band's third album, and the first American release to coincide with the European issue (1998's Married 3 Kids was a reissue of the 1996 album, and their 1995 debut was reissued in 1996).
On Happy Already, Sportsguitar displays a keen pop sensibility with the freshness one might expect from a Pavement, but replaces the art-damaged ethos of their Califonia brethren with an outspoken honesty, replete with a certain broken-English charm. On the title track vocalist Oliver Obert sings "Oh, how I wish no one would never call," utilizing grammatical faux-pas and peculiar European inflection to lend a refreshing sincerity to the music.
He carries this even further on tracks such as "Fish," on which he continually expresses his wish that he was the title creature, and "Neighborhood," a Mr. Rogers-inspired ode to one's area of residence. While it never gets inescapably grating, the silly balladry does get to be a bit much at times.
Sportsguitar is definitely at its best when giving the guitar a rhythmic workout, as on such bouncy tracks as "Romeo Goes" and "Mistake." Notable, however, is one ballad, the album's closing track "So Healthy," utilizing uncommonly powerful imagery: "In an all-white cloud on a blue sky / all-white starlight teen-age love / in a cold night by the lake / with some goddess and you are God."
If delicious hooks and an outspoken brand of blunt Euro-pop are your piece of chocolate, chalk another one up to the Swiss.
MICHAEL CHAMY |