a review of 'AMAZING DISGRACE'
The danger in calling a rock album a "disgrace" is that it could be true.
But Amazing Disgrace, the fourth album from Seattle-based popsters the Posies, is nothing less than their best record yet.
Since they first appeared in 1988, the Posies have been a bit of a band in search of a sound.
Their major-label debut, Dear 23, established them as a sensitive pop band with a bent for achingly beautiful ballads in the mold of Beatlesque pop craftsmen like XTC. Although the songs on Dear 23 are well-written, the album suffers from the treacly sameness of the tunes.
Ironically, the follow-up to Dear 23 was the much-less-confectionary Frosting on the Beater, which served up a weaker set of songs marred further by the infusion of amplified guitars and celebrity producer Don Fleming's uncharacteristic overproduction. Loud and boring, Frosting did, however, succeed in boosting the band's following overseas.
Since that album came out, bandleaders Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow have played with their reunited musical idols in the '70s pop band Big Star, and changed out their rhythm section, which is now made up of bass guitarist Joe Skyward and drummer Brian Young.
Now, for the first time in their eight-year career, the Posies have found that sweet spot. With Amazing Disgrace, the Posies have blended the tender balladry of Dear 23 with the cranked-up guitar sound of Frosting to emerge reborn, boasting a sound they can proudly call their own.
Produced by former XTC engineer Nick Launey, Disgrace is driven by twin undercurrents of abject anger and inconsolable bitterness. Loathing is key: "Daily Mutilation" compares a relationship with a cheating lover to self-harm, and "Hate Song" achieves its stated purpose.
Auer and Stringfellow, who co-wrote all the songs, have skillfully applied their expressive vocals to songs which might be unlistenable in the wrong hands. Few bands can sound as sincere as the Posies do on songs like "Precious Moments," which reads like a suicide note ("Before you can recoil in horror / You discover life is life's destroyer"), or the sarcastic "Song #1."
In the hands of lesser artists, an album like Amazing Disgrace would be maudlin. The Posies succeed in dealing with such unpleasantries by drawing the listeners into the songs, making them identify and sympathize with the singer's sad tale.
That's not to say Disgrace ends on a depressive, hopeless note.
Even as Auer and Stringfellow sing about a failed relationship in "Please Return It," what holds the song together is the chorus of "There's an 'upside' - there has to be an 'upside.'" And the album ends with "Will You Ever Ease Your Mind," a friend's offer of a shoulder to cry on.
Amazing Disgrace is by no means perfect; it's dragged down by the occasional obscure half-song and failed experiments like "Broken Record."
Musically, however, the Posies have never sounded better. For all the times they've been compared to Big Star, "Throwaway" is the closest Auer and Stringfellow have ever come to that band's sound. And "Ontario" is one of the catchiest grunge anthems ever.
With Amazing Disgrace, it's clear the Posies have come into their own. Too many bands are shunted off or ignored by the listening public for the crime of originality. If the Posies don't get the attention they deserve, the disgrace will be ours.
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