Flak Magazine: Gold Teeth and a Curse for this Town: Tracks 6-10, 01-10-02

Many were underwhelmed by former Pavement frontman Steve Malkmus' slick solo debut, but the endeavor at least yielded "Jenny & The Ess-Dogg," a world-beater of a pop song.

Breaking from his usual m.o. of witty nonsensical wordplay to relate a witty narrative, Malkmus sings about Jennifer, 18, and Sean, 31, mismatched neo-hippies in a doomed relationship. There's no doubt that he's goofing on these characters, but the song is also infused with a measure of affection. The listener — and maybe the singer — ultimately wishes the two could pull through together against obviously stacked odds.

So the joke turns into a meditation on the things that separate us from those we love. When the differences between the lovers, including physical distance, take their toll, Malkmus' description of their parting is nearly clinical in its matter-of-factness, up till the closing line, "and off came those awful toe rings." On the surface, this seems to be another dig at Jennifer's trustafarian silliness, but when attributed to her voice it hints at the heartbreaking ways people change and play revisionist with their personal histories.

It's great to get all this humanity — compassion! — from indie rock's king of ironic distance. The story is effectively matched to a cascading melody partially cribbed from Elliott Smith's "Say Yes" and the kind of upbeat, jangly pop Pavement condescended to release once in a while, with a rave-up segment before the final verse for some variation. Malkmus would do well to continue in this vein next time around. (— Wayne Lewis)

7. "Designs on You" | Old 97's
Satellite Rides | (Elektra/Asylum) | 3:49

If there's any common thread running through country music history, it's the importance of a plaintive cheatin' song. So it's almost ironic that the Old 97's' "Designs on You" appears on an album that finds the group embracing a poppier sound.

"Designs on You" features just enough of twang to qualify it as an alt-country song, then adds a pounding, power-pop chorus and a smooth bass line. The music, though, is secondary to the Rhett Miller's desperate, languid, warbling attempt to convince his engaged paramour to see him.

You can go ahead and get married
and this will be our secret thing
I won't tell a soul except the people in the nightclub where I sing

I don't mean to get you all worked up
except secretly I do

Then, after a slight pause, he cries out the chorus:

I'd be lying if I said I didn't have designs on you

Miller draws out every syllable, as if it's the last he'll ever speak to this woman. In doing so, he evokes a relationship in which the couple's every moment may well be the last they'll share. You can almost picture Miller in a smoky club, singing this song directly to his lover, as she tries to avoid his eyes.

But what's most striking is that despite its vivid portrayal of heartache, "Designs on You" makes listeners want to get up and dance. Because the only thing more country than a cheatin' song is being able to smile through your tears. (— Stephanie Kuenn)

8. "Aaron and Maria" | American Analog Set
Know by Heart | (Tiger Style) | 3:10

This catchy, but sleepy empty-highway-at-sundown driving song (complete with the barest guitar, drums and vocals) is proof that the American Analog Set is not as boring and insubstantial as previous efforts indicated. In fact, it's one of several standout pieces of evidence from this year's Know by Heart.

Among those, the album's starter "Punk as Fuck" is, well, not punk at all; nor is any other track. They're, for the most part, sonically saccharine pop songs that gently blend and fade into each other for a definitive collection of fuzzed-out tunes.

Only the storytelling "Aaron & Maria," though, contains the absolutely charming and non-pitying line, "No one gives a fuck about us." (— Lavina Lee)

9. "New Slang" | The Shins
Oh, Inverted World | (Sub Pop) | 3:51

Five seconds into "New Slang," its genius becomes apparent. As the opening "ooh" rolls in like a row of wagons down a canyon trail, the song springs forth with a stanza that conveys both an outsider's status and a desire to belong:

Gold teeth and a curse for this town
Were all in my mouth
Only I don't know how
They got out, dear

These beginning words tap into what is perhaps American rock's most prevalent and consistent character — the wanderer. The archetype is best illustrated in Danny Dill and Marijohn Wilkin's 1959 classic "Long Black Veil." That song begins:

Ten years ago on a cool dark night
There was someone killed 'neath the town hall light
There were few at the scene and they all did agree
That the man who ran looked a lot like me

While lyrically the Shins aren't as explicit, the same reluctant, skittish tone prevails in both songs. What Dill and Wilkin proclaim in words, that a man's infidelity and wandering nature will ultimately kill him (and what is a real man if not a rootless philanderer?), "New Slang" declares musically.

In the song's chorus, a masterful bass line walks up the fret board, pauses, then steps back down again like an individual tortured by two unwelcome options. That sorrowful hum functions like a time capsule, condensing the last century of American folk music into one perfect, four-minute nugget. (— Yancey Strickler)

10. "Just to See My Holly Home"
Bonnie Prince Billy
Ease Down the Road | (Palace Music) | 3:40

After several albums of shifting between ironic and overly earnest country music, Will Oldham has settled into a language of his own. His words, often in imperfect English, flow with his music, as if improvised.

Ease Down the Road, the latest Bonnie Prince Billy album, is part '70s country rock record and part Southern romance novel. Lusty, sinister and endearing, "Just to See…" features "gorgeous anxious sluts" and babies walking in perfect time, hopping onto knees to be bounced. There's a cartoon element to the lyrics, a playfulness that offsets the oftentimes dark subject matter. (— Aaron Tassano)