Reviews

Alan Singley & Pants Machine

Lovingkindness

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Review Date: 2007-03-01

Picky eaters must go through what I am currently experiencing with Lovingkindness by Alan Singley & Pants Machine all the time -- having to meticulously cull through several unwanted ingredients in order to reach those delicious morsels that they crave. Thankfully, I am not a picky eater and usually will just consume whatever is on my plate. With music, however, I am an extremely picky eater. I am not one to cull through albums to find certain songs to put on my iPod. In truth, if I don’t find the entire album worthy of going on the iPod, then I don’t bother putting on any songs at all.

Can you see a problem for Alan Singley & Pants Machine developing here (other than the absolutely atrocious band name, that is)?

I find myself having to scrape a few too many of these songs to the side in order to find the ones I am wanting to hear. Don’t be mistaken, there are a handful of tasty indie-pop/indie-rock tracks to be found on Lovingkindness. During these moments I’d compare the band very favourably to the likes of Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Ben Kweller, and even a little bit of Weezer back when Weezer wasn’t a synonym for feces.

Where it goes wrong is when it starts to become overly ambitious. History has shown us that most excellent indie-pop albums are very limited in scope. When I want to listen to indie-pop I don’t care if most of the songs sound similar; in fact, that is largely why I opted to hear it in the first place. When all of a sudden I have an extended instrumental (“Seahorse”) smack in the middle of what is otherwise an indie-pop/rock album, it seems about as out of place as a heaping dose of apple sauce on my pizza; it sets of alarm bells in my head. I can see why a band would be tempted to do this, but just because you are tempted to do something doesn’t mean you should.

The starting course, “I Don’t Know Where To Start”, had me slowjam bobbing my head around and thinking this was going to be a gem of an indie-pop album. I found myself thinking, it’s too bad Ben Kweller last album was so much shittier than this song. Indie pop rules because if the vocals say “I don’t know where to start” for a third of the song it doesn’t matter -- actually strike that, it does matter’ it actually makes the song better. I like the retro sound effects here, it’s shades of a band I was just listening to, the Bees.

“Short Sleeve Stumblah” taps into some of that lovable retro feel that a band like The Bees -- or even at times The Hives -- might be expected to do. It doesn’t really fit in with the remainder of the album but it certainly stands out. The vintage guitar breakdown that hits between verses is just awesome, even if we’ve heard variations of it hundreds of times before.

The remainder of the album is relatively inoffensive. It doesn’t inspire me to the extent where I feel any urge to go into deep explanations for you about why you should hear it, nor does it grab me by the throat and demand that I warn you to stay clear of it. Much like the oft-mentioned Ben Kweller, this is an album that at first frustrates because it seems to have the potential to be more. However, after a few listens that frustration is gone and what is leftover is just an album that isn’t all that good.

Score: 6

- Dan