Neon & Ruin by Slender Means
There are a lot of records that I don't necessarily like on the first listen. Generally, that's why I never give my stamp of approval (not that it means anything) until I've given an album a half-dozen auditions. Listening to a record a couple of times through gives me a chance to catch things that somehow don't merit my attention the first time. For the most part this usually allows me to appreciate the work even more. That doesn't mean that I never like a album on the first listen, but as I grow older and more critical, those first-time fall in love works seem fewer and farther between.
But, of course, every once in awhile they still do pop up. Slender Means has broken that current drought of works for me with their release Neon & Ruin. No doubt you'll recognize right away that this was released in late 2005. I confess that I missed it completely. On top of that, I have no recollection of how I became aware of it. After Nancy cleaned out a bunch of my music wants from my Amazon wish list, somehow this one popped up near the top. My nephew gave me a iTunes gift card so I gave it the old 30 sec. clip run-through one more time and decided to buy it.
Perhaps it's because Neon & Ruin contains my very favorite things, smart lyrics and sweet guitar hooks, that I liked this from the start. Perhaps it's because the album starts off with four really strong pop songs. Or maybe it's just because the little goofy oooo and ahhh lyrics that seem to always show up in good catchy songs are all in the right place here. Either way there's not a bad song on here and each time you listen to it you say 'No, wait a minute, this one's my favorite song, not that last one' right up to the very last song. Some are better than others but they are all very good. The standout track Painless Life, an ode to the world of anti-depressants, only wins that dubious title by the slimmest of margins.
But at the same time, Painless Life is indicative of why successive listens have the reverse effect on me for this. It gets to be a little too introspective and emo at times, and me being who I am, have little tolerance for this. Most likely this is the reason why I couldn't write a decent song to save my life and instead resort to sniping others who can. I'm a pompous ass, aren't I?
(side note: I will admit that the lyrics to Clerk hit a little close to home. Knowing that you can only write what you know and all I really know is corporate management of computer programmers, I often pondered how to write a song about that experience. Since Jonathan Coulton already wrote the best one ever, I've now resigned myself to struggle to write the third best song ever about corporate America from the inside.)
While successive listens did lessen the appeal of this really fantastic taste of pop goodness, I also found the lyrics and hooks stuck in my head once I filtered the album out of my rotation. Which means, of course, that it worked exactly like a good record should.
Some have put Slender Means in the same vein as The Shins, but to me, The Shins are the top of the food chain for this genre. These guys only scratch that surface. I admit that they are in the same genre. I also hear a little bit of Interpol without all that glammy, faux British thing. At the same time they also sound like any other old regular American band ... with a Northwest attitude.
2 comments
LOL.
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