REVIEWS:
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
When mentioning Spacehog to the general public, especially when concerning their debut album, it is, of course, mandatory to immediately discuss the only major hit they've had to date in the opening track "In The Meantime". And even I'm forced to admit that this is one of the absolute coolest singles of mid 90's alt rock - the main bassline alone makes this song such a groovy listen, but there's so many other great features here too, from the subtle electronically influenced textures, the fantastic arena rock riff (especially effective with the 'whooooooooo' harmony burst at the beginning), and of course, a simply outstanding vocal hook that will get stuck in your head for hours on end to go along with a gorgeous piano-laden ending. Damn, I had almost forgotten how utterly awesome this song is, and by itself, it nearly makes the album worth it. Needless to say, the remainder of the material has quite a tough act to follow from this point onward.
But I'd say the rest of this stuff holds its' own quite fine. Maybe the band's style of retro style, slightly experimental, Britpop isn't very original, but for the most part, it's still done somewhat effectively, as almost every one of the remaining tracks has a solid hook in its' own right, especially within the easily singable choruses, from the driving rock of the band's 'signature' song "Spacehog" to the more gorgeously atmospheric textures of "Starside" and "Shipwrecked" (the former having a neat shimmering guitar line and a great 'starsiiiiiiide, tell me when I'm home' refrain, and the latter being one of the more haunting moments of the album). There's also the more fast, punkish "Space Is The Place" (hmm... think they love song titles that start with 'S'?) that features the most exciting raw energy of the album to go with some nasty lyrics added in there, and the effectively straightforward pop rock of "Candyman" and "Cruel To Be Kind". Hooks galore!
Not that most of these songs are really anything more than good (only "In The Meantime" hits greatness, though there's only a couple dull songs in the unmemorable filler "Only A Few" and the overlong but still hypnotizing "Zeroes", with its' incessant chant and eerie guitar line). Just your average good, catchy album that'll probably be quite pleasurable while it's on - it certainly is quite a bit more uplifting and poppy than standard grunge fare of the time period, especially stuff like the anthemic "Never Coming Down (Part II)" (the original is an under two minute long slow shuffle that lifts the 'woo woo' chants from "Sympathy For The Devil"), the homely campfire-ish feel of the acoustic closer "To Be A Millionaire... Was It Likely?" or the shuffling singalong "The Last Dictator". This is a fairly promising outing for the band in that it definitely shows their solid talents for hook-writing, and they would refine that, and their desire for experimentation, even more on the next one.
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
Spacehog's second release seems to be an attempt at ambitious instrumental textures, challenging melodies and conceptual unity within its' songs which segue into each other, almost like a modern day Sgt. Pepper. It doesn't quite have the depth, creativity or great melodies of that album of course, but it's still a high quality collection. However, if there is a concept within The Chinese Album, it's completely flown over my head. Anyway, the lone radio single (a minor hit) was "Mungo City", which is a fun little glam rocker in the tradition of David Bowie or T. Rex with amusing lyrics and great chorus. Other highlights include the hilarious, irresistible novelty tune "Skylark", which is so ridiculous and entertaining in its' 'Monty Python in space' type feel, the groovy retro cut "Captain Freeman", boasting another goodtime cartoonish melody and typically 60s riff, the trippy "Lucy's Shoe" (no resemblance to "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" here) and "Goodbye Violet Race", which is a melodic piano-led tune with an emotional chorus.
Michael Stipe of R.E.M. shows up as a guest vocalist on the softer "Almond Kisses", "Anonymous" is very well-crafted progressive pop that has awesome time changes from section to section, "Sand In Your Eyes" is a slower and atmospheric first half closer, "2nd Avenue" features some of the best examples of the band's humor during this album ('...on second avenue, makes me wanna spew..') and the closing ballad "Beautiful Girl" has a simply gorgeous melody. "Carry On" and opener "One Of These Days" are the two more minor tracks here, but both are fairly creative, especially in comparison to the generic and contrived mainstream music released around the same time. Recommended.
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
What in the world takes bands so long to put out albums these days? Especially albums like this one? The Chinese Album saw Spacehog rework their retro pop experimentation to their full potential (well, maybe - I hate saying stuff like that when for all I know the band could have several great records hiding in them still), and they follow it up with an album that sounds like... a more generic and less adventurous version of Resident Alien. I guess the title might suggest something pretty ambitious (and yes, the band actually did consider naming the album as a whole 2001: A Space Hogyssey until chickening out - the title track is even an instrumental cover of the theme music from it I believe), but what happened to all the neat textures and subtle additions to the tunes that made the last album so excellent? Who knows, and that's exactly what made this such a boring listen at first... until I discovered that all these songs are catchy.
Problem is, even though none of the songs are actually weak, there's not that much else interesting to say about them, and as a result it makes a review an extremely irritating task. Some of these hooks are based on obvious ripoffs, too - the anthemic "This Is America", though having a unique vocal melody of its' own and a very effective slowed down ending, has a riff and tempo that's just another variation of "I Can't Explain", while the chorus to "And It Is" almost makes me want to sing some T. Rex - 'get it onnnn, bang a gong, get it on....'). Well, it's not an exact steal of the melody, but it's close enough. Heck, the closing track "The Horror" almost reminds me of a much slower take on "In The Meantime", only without the cool features of that song like the killer bassline and fantastic textures (though again, it does have a fine, slightly epic, melody of its' own).
I repeat, though - none of these songs are bad. Maybe "The Strangest Dream" is a slightly dull slowdance number (even if nice), but all the others have good infectious hooks. The opening "Jupiter's Moon" is probably my favorite on the album, since it's got a neat 'spacey' quality about its' majestic chorus melody and a fine acoustic groove, and "A Real Waste Of Food" has a mighty catchy refrain that sounds straight off of Blue Oyster Cult's most recent (quite good, I might add) effort without being a direct ripoff, and it boasts effective organ playing. For your requisite aggressiveness, there's also the punkish "Earthquake" (yeah, how appropriate), the most singalong-ish tune here in "I Want To Live", and umm... the more 'generically catchy' "Perpetual Drag", the straightforward directness of "At Least I Got Laid", and the peaceful "Dancing On My Own". And now I'm done racking my brain for this album. Decency can be so annoying sometimes, you know?
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