Love Take Me Down (To The Streets)--Jonathan Richman Sings!!!!

When I'm down and troubled, and I need a helping hand, or when the other scientists at the Institute call me "mad"; instead of gulping down pills or seeing a psychic therapist I go consult with my sonic therapist. It's not like I really have a choice here of course. I understand that modern science has come up with effective ways of dealing with peoples' brain chemicals. I'd like to think mine aren't quite as serious, but we all have our days.

So I go to Dr. Jonathan Richman. He's a lot nicer than Dr. Laura Schlessinger. She would just say its my fault anyway. But Dr Jonathan is patient and understanding, and never fails to get me to a happier place. He gives me good advice without negativity. The general public would most readily know him as the guitar playing narrator in the movie Something About Mary.



Now Jo Jo, What Brings This Change We See?

 I first met Jonathan from the dynamite Modern Lovers album. Roadrunner is one of the great punk rock driving songs ever, and an important record in any alternative rock collection. But shortly thereafter his writing style morphed from classics like Pablo Picasso and She Cracked to the eccentric Rockin' Rockin' Leprechauns and I'm Natures Mosquito. At school one of my roommates had the Jonathan Richman Live album which contained the childlike Ice Cream Man song. It had a length comparable to Freebird and kept ending only to masochistically segue back to the chorus again and again and again...

Jonathan Sings! is both wistfully nostalgic and jump-up-and-down giddy. I originally thought his new musical  persona was pretty ridiculous, but he grew on me gradually. Its only a few degrees of separation from a children's album. Sort of a crazy blend of Springsteen and Mr. Rogers. But there is some pragmatic sort of philosophy or crazy wisdom going on here--don't subsume what is important to you--have passion in life--and don't worry about the opinions of close minded people. But it doesn't come off as preachy, since the album is so lighthearted and funny. I originally got this on cassette on the way home from Worcester on a whim, for about 1.99 and I played it in the car endlessly. Eventually I got it on Cd when the cassette broke. Sadly, this album appears to be out of print and not particularly a bargain, folks.

Though this album came out in 1983, it has a 50's feel to it, especially with the female backing vocals. And though I have been highlighting the childlike vibe of this album, there is brilliance here. While I have a deep seated hatred of those talking hipster stock trading babies that you see on American TV, Not Yet Three is a great song giving props to the little guys and girls. Every time I hear the straight faced yet hilarious Give Paris One More Chance I want to hop on a Air France flight. It isn't a song about America's greatest eternal debutante, though that would be funny. Probably in 1983 she was having trouble getting in clubs.



This Kind Of Music is another cool song, a tribute to rock and roll full of idealistic giddiness, like in the movie The Rocker, when Rainn Wilson and Teddy Geiger drive all over Cleveland listening to their demo take. I think that anyone who has been in a band has dreamed of adulation and doing the thing you love instead of a real job.  But the very visceral thrill of creating something great that never existed before is what I am talking about here. Somebody To Hold Me has a simple message, but conveyed so effectively. The transformative and miraculous power of love. When I'm Walking is simply terrific--I do my best thinking when my feet are moving, the calories burning seem to push the negativity out of my system.

And I think Those Conga Drums...well, the title speaks for itself. If there is ever a song about Congas, buy the album. Just like Monkeys-if there is a monkey on an album cover, you should probably buy the album!(Maybe its a guy thing) Jonathan Sings! is unrelentingly upbeat music. And Richman probably has influenced my personal growth as much as Lao Tzu ever did. If you can get a hold of this at a reasonable price, I say do it--it may give you some peace of mind and actually make you reflect a little, or you could at least get your kids to jump up and down to it.



Ice Cream Man--The Freebird of tweepop.

Quiet But Deadly-- Chappaquiddick Skyline

If you are not familiar with the Pernice Brothers, this is probably the third album you should look into. Northampton Massachusetts' own Joe Pernice is simply one of the best and most eloquent contemporary American songwriters. His first record, the string-laden Overcome By Happiness and dark 60's pop of The World Won't End are two fantastic albums that deserve all the critical accolades.

But this album is a quiet gem, a side project but for all in name a stripped down and sad Pernice Brothers album. On this record the music matches the words. Reflective dark lyrics, beautiful melodies,  vocals subdued but with quiet intensity, this record is mostly perfect introspective chamber pop. Some of the songs on this record are Pernice's very best. Quite accidentally, I stumbled on a review of this record in Pitchfork from about ten years ago, and the critic shreds the album. And I can understand him in a way--if I had written this review after I had heard this album for the first time I would have been underwhelmed. You almost unavoidably find yourself comparing the record to his other body of work. But this album was not created like this accidentally--it was a deliberate departure from Pernice albums. After I heard the album a few times I realized how great the songs are, and that the arrangements are poignant and that the music meshes as a whole.



"I hate my life" begins Everyone Else is Evolving a sad song, lyrics for someone stuck in a loop. Solitary Swedish Houses sounds like a standard, makes me visualize a cold cold cloudless blue sky in winter, one of Pernice's great works. But there are many highlights, Courage Up, Hundred Dollar Pocket both reminiscent of Pernice's early countryish group Scud Mountain Boys. Breakneck Speed is another little gem, with touching falsetto emphasizing the futility and helplessness of a relationship.

Do You Think We Might Have Made It Up Somehow?

Two of You Sleep is very much an Everly Brothers homage, contrasted by dark lyrics of betrayal, disappointment and sad resignation. The one non original song is a slightly slowed up Leave Me Alone by New Order which is works well here, done for the most part in the style of the original. Pernice has threatened to release a sequel to Chappaquiddick but at this point has not gotten around to it. Some of his best songs are on this album, so I could understand that he might want to keep songs of this calibre with his main project. He is an artist that doesn't seem to like staying in one place--you could argue that his albums are genre exercises that could have existed in different decades or at least that he has a questing spirit who wants to keep developing stylistically. Certainly he has a penchant for melding bright AM Radio ready melodies to dark lyrics. On his third album, His Mine and Ours he explores songs in the style of the 80's a la The Smiths and New Order. But really whatever arrangement the songs come in, they are at their essence melodious and articulate.