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Volume 38 Issue 8
January 23, 2001

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Hootie’s a keeper, Poe’s a loser in modern rock race

REVIEWS WITH ATTITUDE
MESA LEGEND
Submitted January 23, 2001

• Poe: "Haunted" — D

Poe Mp3 Samples Haunted Control Not A Virgin

A high-concept, ridiculously over-produced debacle; the only saving grace on this LP are Poe’s furious and disarming vocals; especially poignant is the album’s title track, an elegant and effective pop song.

Unfortunately, the remainder of the record sounds muddy and uninspiring, with plodding rhythms, far too many samples and a whole lot of cloying, computer-generated textures and noises that only serve to drown out the music.

Fits of anger, grief and unrequited love for her dead father are littered throughout the LP in tracks like "Not a Virgin," (revealing her newly discovered sexual liberty to her father), and "Control," (a classic power struggle between father and daughter).

The themes in "Haunted" are engrossing, but all the slick sampling technology and production in the world can’t save this record, a record that seems to say something worthwhile, but sonically, it simply sounds mechanical.

Poe’s charismatic style and vocals remain in-tact, but there are simply far too many layers of muck to dig through on this album before finding the appeal of a simple pop-song underneath. Surprise, surprise – after digging, you find that there isn’t even an appealing melody to speak of.

• Hootie and the Blowfish: "Scattered, Smothered and Covered." — B

Hootie and The Blowfish Mp3 Samples Hey Hey What Can I Do Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want

Everyone, save a few flannel-wearing college geeks, have chosen to despise Hootie and the Blowfish. Why? Well, just because.

However, the most skeptical of music-listeners just may find this album song covers a guilty pleasure, and to Hootie fans, it’s just a pleasure.

The band’s first release since 1998’s "Musical Chairs," "Scattered, Smothered and Covered" is chock-full of Southern-fried covers from the likes of Led Zeppelin, Bill Withers and Roy Orbison, delivered with a sense of purity and casual charm; the music is stripped-down rock simplicity, a strange turn in a modern music climate of movers, shakers and gang-bangers.

The Smiths’ "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want" is the record’s centerpiece, although the British drama found in the original Smiths version has been drained for singer Darius Rucker’s very particular vocal styling. Led Zeppelin’s "Hey Hey What Can I Do" is another praise-worthy track.

Pop-chic boy-band music this is not. All you flannel-wearing college-geeks will have to turn up the volume on your college radio stations to get any airplay out of this record. Nevertheless, "Scattered, Smothered and Covered" is a gentle reminder of the forgotten rock music of yore.

Jordan Currier is the editor-in-chief for the Mesa Legend and a sophomore at MCC.

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