Friction, Baby: Generic and Lackluster Sophomore Release from Better Than Ezra
Nov 17 '05
Pros Three good songs...
Cons Ten bad songs and some really awful lyrics...
The Bottom Line While there are three good songs here, I have to insist that you not pick up Friction, Baby. Better Than Ezra is best sampled on their debut.
Full Review
Better Than Ezra’s musical relevance is easily arguable. Their sound isn’t unique, but they can occasionally slap together a great song or three (as evidenced on their debut Deluxe). I wouldn’t call their music original, creatively interesting, or even particularly well put together. However as with most everything, there are exceptions as with good songs like hit—err—Good.
Formed in 1988 and hailing from New Orleans, Better Than Ezra was one of dozens of generic pop-rock bands to come up with at least one hit during the mid and late 1990s. While I would be remiss to not admit the band’s occasional appeal, I must also point out that they lacked an identity. Their songs were generally sans hooks, Kevin Griffin’s vocals lacked any real inflection, and the sound was mostly forgettable. It was a fluke that anybody listened to Deluxe. Released independently in 1993, it took until 1995 for it to get major label distribution. I was mildly impressed by the album.
Griffin (vocals, guitar) along with bandmates Tom Drummond (bass) and Travis McNabb (drums) may have begun their career playing in a band with overt punk and country influences but they turned out to be mediocre (bordering on bland) pop. The only real reprise has come in the form of a live album released in 2004 in which the band was showed in a very positive light.
Following the success of Deluxe, the trio set out to release a follow up. Friction, Baby (1996) came soon thereafter and yielded two very modest hits and a few more decent songs. As a whole the disc is disappointing still I do find some things to enjoy about it all. It begins on an uncharacteristically strong note with King of New Orleans. Mellow, mid-tempo, and sweet it is interesting because of the vocal arrangement and the abnormally catchy melody (not to mention chorus). This is a song that succeeds despite the somewhat drawn out ending. My only complaint is that it takes much, much too long to finish. I think it would have been a prettier and easier song had it been a minute shorter. That said King of New Orleans is still a decent song.
Unfortunately for Better than Ezra, there is a huge lull between the first song and the eighth. The six songs range in pace, quality, and performance but by and large they go nowhere and make me feel nothing. It’s hard to really tell the difference between the tracks. Rewind sounds like Long Lost which in turn sounds remarkably like Scared Are You? To add insult to potential injury, Griffin and company also posit some of the dumbest lyrics I’ve ever heard in popular music. For your consideration (and ridicule) from Return of the Post Moderns:
Shelby and Sheila
Onomatopoeia
Catch hang nail on Banlon
Shiver Martin Sheen
Preschool mothers
in Technicolor
Are fire bombing Dresden
Stanton, Harry Dean
Fortunately, there are two more songs smack in the middle of Friction, Baby I am forced to admit I enjoy. Desperately Wanting is definitely the best song on this album and is easily one of the best of the band’s career. It is upbeat and sparkles with life and energy. Even better, the lyrics are interesting and the melody is catchy. It is everything one of the best examples of excellent mid-1990s generic pop-rock. Brilliant? Naw, but definitely worth hearing. Similarly, Still Life With Cooley oozes passion. It definitely sounds like the band has been listening to a lot of southern roots rock, but in this case the formula works nicely. I love the sparse arrangement, the acoustic guitar, and Griffin’s placid vocals.
Friction, Baby only fades into oblivion after those two songs. WWOZ begins fine enough with a country tinge, but in the end it goes nowhere and is devoid of emotion. Happy Endings, Speeding Up to Slow Down, and At Ch. Degaulle, etc are also fairly colorless and unimpressive.
My overall impression of Friction, Baby is that it is lazy. This isn’t to say the band didn’t put effort into the recording but it as a whole seems rushed and unrealized. There is the occasional glimmer of hope (King of New Orleans, Desperately Wanting and Still Life With Cooley) but as a whole this is an unimpressive and dispassionate disc. Better Than Ezra has released three more albums since 1996. How Does Your Garden Grow? (1998), Closer (2001), and Before the Robots (2005) each have had their moments but it seems that this is a band that will forever be characterized by their first album. To that I say “oh well.”
Rating: 2/5 stars
Track Listing:
01. King of New Orleans
02. Rewind
03. Long Lost
04. Normal Town
05. Scared Are You?
06. Return of the Post Moderns
07. Hung the Moon
08. Desperately Wanting
09. Still Life With Cooley
10. WWOZ
11. Happy Endings
12. Speeding Up to Slow Down
13. At Ch. Degaulle, etc.
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