Dec 22 2005
Kind of Like Spitting: In the Red
Kind of Like Spitting: In the Red
OTO Rating: 7/10
At it’s best, In the Red is an album of crisp acoustic guitars, sweet harmonies, catchy hooks and lyrics that are clever and intimate without being adolescent. At it’s worst, it’s an album of bland mid-ninties-indie-rock-style tunes that are completely forgettable.
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Track listing:
01 Aubergine 02 We Fell All Over You 03 Worker Bee #7438-F87904 04 Spin 05 In The Red 06 Sheriff Ochs 07 Bubble Congress 08 All Hail 09 Per Se Wha?! 10 Song For Annie’s Harmonica 11 Grapes 12 Line and Sinker 13 Finishing 14 Passing Through |
The acoustic tracks are gems. Each one shows that singer/singwriter Ben Barnett is capable of rivalling the work of those other famous Bens: Folds, Lee and Kweller. There are tracks here that call to mind the delicate beauty of Iron & Wine or Nick Drake, the bouncing joy of the happiest Belle and Sebastian material and even, at times, the rootsy folk of a Woody Guthrie or (do I dare say it) Dylan himself. They are beautiful and bittersweet.
But give the man an electric guitar and the whole thing comes apart at the seams. In direct contrast to the finely crafted softer tunes, none of the rockier tracks on this album are at all memorable. The guitars wash out the sound of everything else and the lyrics are obscured; the songwriting dulls and the hooks disappear. The only thing that they do add is variety, and that isn’t needed thanks to the depth and variety of the acoustic tracks. The end result, sadly, is that this is the kind of album that has you skipping tracks in order to get to the good stuff.
That said, there are definitely more good tracks here than lousy ones. The standouts are the upbeat frolic of an opener, “Aubergine,” the delightfully titled “Worker Bee #7438-F87904″ and the exceptional closing rendition of the traditional folk song, “Passing Through.” As long as you don’t mind hitting the ‘skip track’ button every once in a while, In the Red is definitely worth checking out.
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