Band 1 of new to me 50.

Posies: Frosting on the Beater

http://theposies.net/

   It is band 1of my personal quest to listen to 50 new to me bands in a calander year.

   For my first request I went to longtime friend Wally Fenderson. Over the years he has expanded my knowledge of music on so many occasions that he seemed the natural choice to select my first band to gain a new familiarity with.

   He selected the Posies album 'Frosting on the Beater' a '93 release. I'll be honest on my first listen I wasn't impressed at all. Much of that probably came from coming of age in the early 90's. There was nothing about this album that was a surprise to me, 30 seconds into the first song I could tell exactly when it was made. It is wholly a product of it's time. However, I give every album suggested 3 listens. Here is the analysis that unfolded.

   On my first listen I was just hearing the era it was from, it was such a familiar era to me that I was dismissive of it more than it deserved. This album is a complete amalgamation of those that came before, maybe not in a brilliant new way, but at least in a solid homage. It also is a bit of a herald of what is to come. Looking at the album as a whole its influences are simply dripping off it, and it is wide and varied, a cornucopia of greats had their influence in the making of this album. The overall sensibility is that of pre-Sargent Pepper's Beatles pop mingled with the alt-rock/grunge of the day, but mixing in the vocal timbre of the 80's alt-boys like Elvis Costello & Robyn Hitchcock. I think their biggest influence was probably Blue Oyster Cult, their overall song structure and harmonies hearken back to this 70's popular rock aesthetic. Now while all of this is going on you still can place it firmly in time due to the definite grungy Alice in Chains hints and Ned's Atomic Dustbin alt-rock styling. One of the interesting things about this albums is you can see hints of things to come, like the Foo Fighters and Silversun Pickups, I'm not implying that they influenced them, but this album is a prime example in music history of how you can hear musical evolution.

   There was one major issue that occurred throughout the album. The choruses were almost always great, but the verses were hit or miss. It was not uncommon to have a song where the choruses were spot on, as was the first verse, but the subsequent verses seemed to get away from the singers vision. It felt like he had the capacity to sing it right, but not the artistry to know what was properly fitting to the song.

   Overall, after the requisite 3 listenings, I like the album, it will never be my favorite, but it is a competent piece of music. The first listen was far less impressive than subsequent listenings though.

   Going into the rotation:
      Dream All Day - a great genre mash up. Half a grungy version of Jesus Jones, half Blue Oyster              Cult 'Don't Fear the Reaper' sort of rock ballad.
      Coming Right Along - great song all around. this song would fit in as a B-side from Alice &          Chains 'Sap' or some other more modern band that is on the tip of my tongue but I can't quite              place...
      Honorable Mention - Burn & Shine, a solid alt rock song, though it ends rather abruptly.