Another mixed bag in a sea of mixed bags. Minneapolis'
Laughing Stock had a few things going for them right off the bat, even before you heard a note of their music. Their lone, privately pressed record,
Pipe Dreams was engineered by renown, Midwest indie-punk knob-twirler
Steve Fjelstad, and the group recorded at famed Nicolett Studios. While it's unclear whether they were actually in cahoots with the Replacements, Paul Westerberg & Co are given a quick shout out in the album thank-yous. Not bearing any dreaded '80s production values is also a huge plus, albeit, some of the quartet's ideas here, aren't necessarily laughable, just lackluster. The good news is that L/S exuded a measurable quotient of momentum on the driving and guitars-y "The Boy Who Never Sleeps, "Carpathia Girl" and the harmony-laden "Amnesia." The sleepy ballad "Salutations" passes muster, but just barely. I'm not sure what these gents were thinking on the plodding, "The Local Bands," wasting a solid two minutes on the tune's somber, instrumental intro. They close things out with the frenetic, raging "Catholic Bulletin," though I'm not exactly clear what the source of the angst is.
01. The Boy Who Never Sleeps
02. Amnesia
03. Salutations
04. The Local Bands
05. Carpathia Girl
06. Boy's Town
07. Laughingstock
09. Catholic Bulletin
2 comments:
Jim Walsh was the music editor for the U of Minnesota Daily newspaper and eventually became the music columnist for the free Twin Cities weekly City Pages.)
Songs 3 & 5 feature vocals from Lianne Smith of Safety Last (a Twin/Tone rockabilly band that included a pre-Jayhawks Gary Louris.)
A weird mix of husker du drums and Tenacious D vocal delivery on that first song.
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