What is it about London that makes people make bad albums?
So I review albums for Stereo Subversion, and after my last review I realized a link between the three lowest rated albums I’ve reviewed for the site: They all have songs about London. Odd, right?
**Note: Links on the artists’ names will take you to my reviews of their albums, which may be a little more even-handed and less rant-y than what I write here.
Frida Hyvönen’s album Silence is Wild was actually the first disc this web site ever sent me, and this track, “London!” was the only one I really liked. Its chorus sings “The way you hate me is better than love, and I’m head over heels,” which has stuck with me as a really good lyric.
She kind of looks cute in this video – I dig the bleached hair, the cute round face, and the glasses. I would say my opinion has softened over time, but I honestly can’t remember more than one other decent song from her album.
Nonetheless, I am less kind to these other two tracks. I almost have contempt for Luke Jackson’s album …And Then Some. “Goodbye London” is the hardest rocking track from this album.
But do not be fooled by the punk drums and the weird animations. It does not change the fact that Jackson’s album is cheesy and lame and contains some of the worst songwriting I’ve ever heard.
So what? you might be saying. Why blog about Luke Jackson with such contempt? I’m not sure. I think, in part because Luke Jackson seems like a nice, reasonable fellow who should know better than to write lyrics like “Did we read the ending before we read the start?/ Why is there this aching in my heart?” Also, because on his Myspace page there is an obviously staged “live” video for his song “Half a World Away” with a crowd of “fans” about three people deep. They boogie and smile and clap, and they are dressed in what Luke Jackson and his record label assume are trendy clothes. It makes me a little sick.
For some reason it particularly annoys me when I am reviewing a new band and I have to read their self-written bios and “About Me” sections, talking about all of the groundbreaking music they’re creating. Now, I know this is necessary to some extent, but Luke Jackson’s “live” video seems to be the worst example of something like this. It’s dishonest and it’s obvious and it’s lame. Gross.
Leslie Mendelson has the vocals for what she’s trying to do: Write simple, Motown-influenced pop songs. “The Rest of London,” one of the slower tracks from her album Swan Feathers, is not a good example of one of these songs. But I am posting it, because it is the one with “London” in the title.
Sadly, like Luke Jackson, Mendelson’s downfall is her songwriting. These two albums feature some of the worst lyrics I’ve ever heard, and it makes me sad. When people go to London does the city zap them of their creative writing abilities? It’s a theory that someone should look into.
Other Leslie Mendelson-related pet peeve: I listened to her album a good many times through, and never once heard a lyric about swan feathers. What gives, Mendelson?
Tags: And Then Some, bad albums, Frida Hyöven, Leslie Mendelson, London, Luke Jackson, Silence is Wild, Swan Feathers
