Quickies, Magnetic Fields, 2020, :46
★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Like TMBG's Nanobots and Elvis Costello's Get Happy!!, this album features a lot of very short songs. There are 28 of them, to be exact, the longest one at 2:35. While I'm a devotee of Stephen Merritt's songwriting, I think his strengths are palatial, cleverly rhymed torch style songs. To me, his wit and his storytelling need room to present themselves fully. So he's challenging himself on this album, and that's a fine thing, but it isn't his best work. "The Biggest Tits in History," one of the longer songs, is basically a dad joke, and "The Day the Politicians Died" is similarly one-note. Some of the others are pretty good verses from songs that didn't get fully written. However, the bright spots are very good. "The Best Cup of Coffee in Tennessee" is a story song that would have fit well on 69 Love Songs. I think, however, overall I'm disappointed because the moments of sweeping melody and catchy refrains are few and far between. Favorite tracks: "The Best Cup of Coffee in Tennessee," "My Stupid Boyfriend," "When the Brat Upstairs Got a Drum Kit."
