The Red Telephone
Cellar Songs
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The Red Telephone
Cellar Songs
Raise Giant Frogs, 2001
RiYL: The Verve, Big Star, Wilco, My Bloody Valentine |
Named for a track from Love's classic Forever Changes, The Red Telephone has mastered the ability to mix pop sensibilities with psychedelic guitars to create lush, dreamy tunes while Matt Hutton's vocals help communicate the themes of the songs. Though Aviation centered on travel, Cellar Songs tackles urban desperation. The album is a snapshot of our urban culture, presenting suburbia as a mediocre, cookie-cutter world. "Cellar Songs" puts to music the feeling you get looking around a housing development and seeing all the same houses, wondering how our world became so sterile.
The first Cellar song, "Pennsylvania," opens with the line, "Pennsylvania nowhere town, wanting only to get out / Branded of another clan / Stranded her by circumstances / Down the open highway / Maybe there's another chance." Imagine a kid living in an American suburb looking up at the sky and dreaming about getting the hell out of there. "If You Weren't So Clean" continues to look under the facade: "Your neighbors all run to hide / In houses all fit so tight" is a definite shot at the 'burbs, and the song ends on a poignant note with "The dreams don't stop / They won't let up / They just seem more broken / But they're all you've got." This sort of vibe dominates the entire record.
Comprised of rich imagery and dreamy music, which flows with the lyrics like a tranquil river, The Red Telephone immerses the listener in the mood of the song. Cellar Songs is rich in message and texture. The Red Telephone have taken on popular themes -- urban despair and the dream of breaking free of mediocrity -- and created original art.
KEVIN MAURER |