Have a Ball, Me First & The Gimme Gimmes

Have a Ball, Me First & the Gimme Gimmes, 1997, :28

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Fast punk-pop versions of classic songs.  That's what this group does, to the exclusion of all else.  So they're sort of a one-note joke band.  Now, I love punk covers, and I love fast songs.  But a little bit of this goes a long way.  And listening to this, I rarely got the sense that the band felt they were making the song their own, just doing a punk version.  When Lars Fredericksen covers Billy Bragg's "To Have And To Have Not," it's because they're coming from the same working-class hunger and resentment.  This album is not that.  So it leaves me unmoved for the most part.  And to top it all off, while I'm no expert, I thought audio-wise it had a very muddy mix.  Favorite tracks: "Leaving On a Jet Plane," "Mandy," "One Tin Soldier."

When I Was Born For the 7th Time, Cornershop

When I Was Born For the 7th Time, Cornershop, 1997, :54

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

This is electronic stoner raga rock, with catchy rhythms aplenty. There are Indian and Middle Eastern sounds, there's a cover of "Norwegian Wood" in Punjabi, and there are some rather Beckian distorted beats. While there are several tracks on this album that just aren't what I'm interested in (electronic instrumentals and buzzy feedback), the amount of music here that is so irrepressibly, toe-tappingly catchy more than elevates this album to four-star status. Favorite tracks: "Brimful of Asha," "Sleep On the Left Side," the Belle and Sebastian-like duet "Good To Be Back On the Road Back Home," and the Punjabi "We're In Yr Corner."

I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One, Yo La Tengo

It's the title word count-up to ten! Eight words.

I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One, Yo La Tengo, 1997, 1:07

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Now, Yo La Tengo isn't always my personal cup of tea.  My tastes run more toward the literate muscular folk or punk than fuzzy indie pop.  However, I generally admire their albums and their musicianship. This album, however, just doesn't do it for me.  Ethereal, delicate, skillful, buried muttered vocals always leave me wanted a bit more clarity.  Those softly crooning vocals are just... very... very.... soporific to me. "Stockholm Syndrome" sounds like Uncle Tupelo. The only places that a song really breaks out are in the Beach Boys cover and "Sugar Cube." But "Spec Bebop" is a 10 1/2 minute long instrumental with feedback and fuzziness, ugh.  They also cover "We're an American Band," turned unrecognizable in a cloud of fuzz.  Favorite tracks: "Sugar Cube," "Little Honda," "Stockholm Syndrome."

Tubthumper, Chumbawumba

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1997.

Tubthumper, Chumbawumba, 1997, :55

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

This album is the third, I think, out of this entire project's existence that I have previously listened to all the way through. But it was something like one time, back when it first came out, so it's probably due for a reassessment. I make no apologies for liking the smash mega-hit single for which the album is named; it may be dulled by ubiquity but that is a damn fine singalong song. The electro-pop and dance influences are not really my thing, but they do it well, and there is overall an eclectic collection of styles on this album. Also, I like their politics. Union forever! "If any ask us why we died / We tell them that our leaders lied / Sold us out down the riverside / Whose side are you on?" Favorite tracks: "Tubthumping," of course, the beautiful vocal showcase "One By One," "The Big Issue," "Drip, Drip, Drip."