hmm. These complaints are all entirely legitimate, I'd be the first to admit they've put out some bile (Outtathaway and the accompanying video comes to mind)...
but I think there's just a genuine desire to just make good pop there, you can hear it from the early 4-track recordings to the (admittedly off-putting) studio sheen of everything else.
What clinches it for me is the fact that the American record exec who adopted the band dropped them after their (actually brilliant) sophomore flop; now they're signed to the Aussie indie label Ivy League and still putting out those kind of albums...
Some bands want to eke a living out of sounding like Guided By Voices, others just want to be the Beatles.
I think I've given everybody the impression that I'm obsessed with this band... I just admire the songwriting ethic, man!
|