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| From | Stewart Mason <flamingo@theworld.com> |
| Subject | Re: The High Dials / Datsons |
| Date | Tue, 15 Jul 2003 22:44:13 -0400 |
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At 08:06 PM 7/15/2003 -0500, Michael Bennett wrote:
>While the Myracle Brah debut disc was very much a spot-the-influence lark
>(and an incredibly entertaining one), to continue to stereotype them on the
>basis of that disc is plain wrong. I would say that on their second and
>fourth albums (PLATE SPINNER and BLEEDER), Andy Bopp and his assistants
>weave in some other elements into the music. The melodies are certainly cut
>from the same cloth as always -- that has always been a part of Bopp's thing
>in Love Nut and MB -- but there are a lot of diverse sonic elements that add
>a gloss that is alternatively psychedelic and modern and find Myracle Brah
>to be a lot more daring, in some respects, than many of their power pop
>bretheren. Even if one does not like those records, it is unfair to
>continually paint them as mere imitators, when that is simply incorrect.
While I admit that the later Myracle Brah albums are not as mind-numbingly
imitative as the debut (which I still hold as the point at which the
mid-'90s power pop renaissance fell to pieces, because it was an album that
was feted not on its own merits, but on how much it reminded people of
other albums), I stick to my opinion that Andy Bopp is -- as you imply
yourself -- a one-trick pony as a songwriter. I don't like Myracle Brah
for exactly the same reason I don't like Oasis: their songs sound like any
number of older, better records, but don't have enough personality of their
own to convince me that I wouldn't be better off listening to the older,
better records themselves.
S
NP: REVISITED -- Cowboys International
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