Wally Pleasant: East Lansing's Own Alt-Folk Funny Man
Written: Oct 02 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Hilarious material. Great songs. Sounds generally good.
Cons: Sometimes repetitive. Maybe a bit tasteless occasionally.
The Bottom Line: If alt-folk and comedy are two of your loves, then maybe you should also come to know and love Wally Pleasant.
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| lambchops's Full Review: Songs About Stuff - Wally Pleasant |
Exceptionally large state universities bring together in one place a wide variety of people. And it is at schools like this that many solo artists and bands alike get their start.
One such university is East Lansing’s own Michigan State University—a school from which I personally graduated a few years ago. MSU has in the matter of the past ten or twenty years given a number of acts their start. Verve Pipe immediately comes to mind but so do others like Knee Deep Shag, 19 Wheels, Calliope, Domestic Problems, and a number of others have all done their time at the local bars (regardless of whether they hail from the area or not). But there are other, lesser known names that also deserve mention. One such name is Wally Pleasant.
Wally Pleasant, a native of Detroit transplanted to East Lansing during college in the, possesses a keenly irreverent sense of humor that evokes memories of humorous singer-songwriters of yore. His style is simple. Nothing more than an acoustic guitar and Pleasant’s voice graces his debut album Songs About Stuff. Subsequent albums added other players to the mix, but this early indie debut represented the young Pleasant at his rawest and most earnest. But even though the tracks are short and easy, it is impossible not to crack a smile while listening to him sing about topics as diverse as getting away with dealing pot to really awful haircuts and from a girl’s bizarre love for a geek to crazy roommates.
Clearly, Pleasant’s debut isn’t meant to be taken seriously. His alt-folk style is the perfect accompaniment of the uniquely hilarious songs. Believe it or not, but Pleasant’s sense of humor even appeals to me—a girl who admittedly doesn’t have a funny bone in her body. I suppose there are a few reasons for this. When Pleasant recorded the album, he was a college student—and since I too hail from Michigan and spent a few years in college (including at MSU) I can relate to much of what he says. His perspective is intelligent, strange, and hilarious—and what more could listeners want from an alt-country album?
Songs About Stuff isn’t perfect. Sometimes I find myself bored by the lack of variety to Pleasant’s songs. True to his name, the songs are indeed pleasant to listen to but I yearn for a drum or a bass guitar. Just something to spice things up. This lack of variety of course leads to a kind of complacency that isn’t a good for any album. But even with that major fault properly noted, I am time and time again drawn to Songs About Stuff because it’s quaint, light-hearted nature. Pleasant doesn’t take himself seriously, and doesn’t expect his audience to take him seriously either.
The fourteen songs on this 1992 debut are absolutely adorable. Some offerings aren’t at all politically correct (as with Ode To Detroit) while others are written and recorded in complete jest. And while I do enjoy most all of the songs (despite their sonic similarities) I do gravitate back to a few time and time again. And, fortunately for Pleasant, his best songs are evenly disbursed throughout his debut.
Bad Haircut is incredibly funny. It is the story of a guy who went to a cut-rate mall barber and ended up with the crappiest haircut on the planet. Pleasant compares the cut to something that Picasso painted, a Pekinese, and something dead. Of course, he can’t solve the issue with gel, shampoo, or even rubber cement. It is so very entertaining because we can all relate with the experience. And, of course, the lyrics are side-splitting:
Some people look at me like I’ve lost my mind
I often answer the question: “was your barber blind?”
One of them said I look like her Pekinese
And my parents think I have a disease
I go to a psychiatrist these days
Who thinks I’m going through a phase
And my best friend thinks I’m trying to set a trend
I already mentioned the absolutely not politically correct Ode To Detroit. Before I speak about this song don’t think I hate the city. I do not, but anybody from the area could easily speak of Detroit’s downfalls. Many of them are covered in this song. Of course, Pleasant adds his own brand of humor and sometimes tasteless jest. Pleasant speaks to everything from the Tigers, starting fires, joining gangs, robbery, welfare, drugs, and high-end vehicles—even saying that Beirut is safer. The singer-songwriter apparently also hails from Detroit, so he possibly has a bit more room to speak. In any case, I can’t help but laugh—even if it is in bad taste.
The aforementioned Psycho Roommate also hits home. Yes, I too had a few crazy roommates in my day. So, the fact that Pleasant’s model refuses to pay bills, is a thief, and is also apparently a “demon from hell” comes as no particular shock. The fact that the singer-songwriter manages to continue singing without laughing is impressive. I can’t even listen to the song without giggling uncontrollably—especially at the line: If she walked in front of my car, I wouldn’t even swerve.
Nobody is sacred—not even hippies or pop singers. The former, Hippie Lament, is one of the funniest. Basically, Pleasant singing as though from the perspective of a “self-ritcheous and pretentious” hippie about how he boycotts everything, recycles for no particular reason, eats just four food groups, and has views “slightly to the left of Karl Marx and Bertolt Brecht.” Oh yeah—and he smoked pot when he was “like 5” and thinks that the Grateful Dead are gods.
I also am fond of the hilarious song about selling out (Wanna Be) A Pop Star and the slightly more serious Dead Rock & Roll Stars. The latter is of particular note. Pleasant namedrops everybody from Marvin Gaye to Jim Morrison and from Sid Vicious to Keith Moon and Roy Orbison to Karen Carpenter. It really is a sad song, but Pleasant hits the nail on the head. Yeah, the song is about a dream where all the stars knock on the singer-songwriter’s door and party at his apartment. He speaks about the irony of death and how it makes artists more popular. He speaks to the sadness and grief but also being star-struck by their mere presence.
Overall, Songs About Stuff is an admirable debut. It’s not perfect, but it certainly proves that Pleasant was even in the beginning a unique talent. Since this album, Pleasant has released four albums—and another has been announced to be in the works. So for fans of alt-folk and humor, this Michigan native is a definite gem. Also look for songs like my personal favorite The Day Ted Nugent Killed All The Animals and the classic Alternateen.
Rating: 4/5 stars
Track Listing:
01. Small Time Drug Dealer
02. Bad Haircut
03. That's Evolution
04. Ode to Detroit
05. First Love
06. Lost Weekend Las Vegas
07. She's in Love With a Geek
08. Cool Guy With a Car
09. Psycho Roommate
10. Hippies Lament
11. (I Wanna Be A)Pop Star
12. If I Were
13. Restless College Years
14. Dead Rock n Roll Stars
Recommended:
Yes
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lambchops
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Georgian Bay, here I come! Gone until July 13.
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