The B-52s - "Too Much To Think About" (mp3)
The B-52s' new album Funplex "wasn't horrible," according to my friend Mat, which is a hilarious bit of backhanded praise, but appropriate, considering that anytime a band comes back with their first new album in, say, 16 years, you really have no idea if they'll have completely lost their step or not. And even when it's not bad, you tend to praise it in those terms, how not-bad it is instead of how good it is. I have no problem finding time for the band's late-period table scraps -- I still own a copy of Good Stuff, after all. The two songs on the 1998 hits comp Time Capsule: Songs For a Future Generation, particularly "Hallucinating Pluto" were good (we probably don't need to talk about their theme song for "Rocko's Modern Life," or their appearance in The Flintstones live action flick as "The BC-52's"), and Funplex picks up well on a slightly modernized version of the sound they've had since the career reinvention of Cosmic Thing, which bears only a slight resemblence to the Ricky Wilson era.
My interest in Funplex is, to a lesser degree, similiar to my fascination with The Who's Endless Wire a couple years ago. Once a band goes that long without recording, while still profitably touring off of their old hits, they get to a point where they have a lot more to lose than to gain, financially and in terms of their legacy, by releasing a new album. But The B-52s are a more unique case in the legacy department, partly because they were so early to adapt an over-the-top campy retro aesthetic that's become much more commonplace in the decades since their first album. Usually when a new band has has a schticky attachment to a bygone era, I roll my eyes and expect that they're going to look really embarrassing to everyone in a few years. But since The B-52s had such an alien twist on their beehives-and-surf-guitar idea of retro to begin with, not to mention a distinctive sound and some monster jams, they've really never been limited by their schtick, schticky as it is.
Funplex's title track and lead single is pretty easily the best thing on it, and even though I'm loathe to even acknowledge any song without Fred Schneider vocals as a true B-52's song (or, at least, not a truly great one) -- yes, even "Roam"! -- "Juliet Of The Spirits" is a pretty lovely, floaty thing. On the whole, it's a consistent record, with only a couple really awkward moments. But nothing, not even the big hooks of "Pump" or "Too Much To Think About," really matches their previous high marks, and at best it's really just on par with Good Stuff. But that's OK. I love this band, and I'm glad they rolled the dice on one last hurrah. More bands their age should, bad reviews be damned.
The B-52s' new album Funplex "wasn't horrible," according to my friend Mat, which is a hilarious bit of backhanded praise, but appropriate, considering that anytime a band comes back with their first new album in, say, 16 years, you really have no idea if they'll have completely lost their step or not. And even when it's not bad, you tend to praise it in those terms, how not-bad it is instead of how good it is. I have no problem finding time for the band's late-period table scraps -- I still own a copy of Good Stuff, after all. The two songs on the 1998 hits comp Time Capsule: Songs For a Future Generation, particularly "Hallucinating Pluto" were good (we probably don't need to talk about their theme song for "Rocko's Modern Life," or their appearance in The Flintstones live action flick as "The BC-52's"), and Funplex picks up well on a slightly modernized version of the sound they've had since the career reinvention of Cosmic Thing, which bears only a slight resemblence to the Ricky Wilson era.
My interest in Funplex is, to a lesser degree, similiar to my fascination with The Who's Endless Wire a couple years ago. Once a band goes that long without recording, while still profitably touring off of their old hits, they get to a point where they have a lot more to lose than to gain, financially and in terms of their legacy, by releasing a new album. But The B-52s are a more unique case in the legacy department, partly because they were so early to adapt an over-the-top campy retro aesthetic that's become much more commonplace in the decades since their first album. Usually when a new band has has a schticky attachment to a bygone era, I roll my eyes and expect that they're going to look really embarrassing to everyone in a few years. But since The B-52s had such an alien twist on their beehives-and-surf-guitar idea of retro to begin with, not to mention a distinctive sound and some monster jams, they've really never been limited by their schtick, schticky as it is.
Funplex's title track and lead single is pretty easily the best thing on it, and even though I'm loathe to even acknowledge any song without Fred Schneider vocals as a true B-52's song (or, at least, not a truly great one) -- yes, even "Roam"! -- "Juliet Of The Spirits" is a pretty lovely, floaty thing. On the whole, it's a consistent record, with only a couple really awkward moments. But nothing, not even the big hooks of "Pump" or "Too Much To Think About," really matches their previous high marks, and at best it's really just on par with Good Stuff. But that's OK. I love this band, and I'm glad they rolled the dice on one last hurrah. More bands their age should, bad reviews be damned.
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on Sunday, April 20, 2008 at 2:38 PM.
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