the pathetic caverns - music by artist - Richard Trible

eclectic reviews and opinions

It's a shame more people haven't heard of my old pals Lesbian Boy, or their folk-rock offshoot Tripe & Ego, because I'm tempted to use them as a reference for Richard Trible's Love, Sex & Other Messy Things, a cheerfully self-deprecating, happily sloppy home recording. Trible appears on the cover wearing just a raincoat, a cap, the bottom half of a pair of trousers and a guitar, alongside a helpful "Parental Advisory -- Bad Lyrics" sticker parody. Whether or not you think that's promising might be a useful gauge for your likely reaction to the album.

It lurches into a start with "All Along The Watchtower" rendered with massed acoustic guitars with somewhat indifferent timing (also a problem that plagued many of Lesbian Boy's performances). "Bardyard [sic] Animals" (that's as in, "we like screwing...") is, like Lesbian Boy's "Nyquil Party," sung in a goofy put-on accent, with lyrics in between merely sophomoric and actually offensive, and, well, possibly kind of funny, if you like that sort of thing. The melody is that sort you can call "servicable" (if not "familiar"). The Who's "Pinball Wizard" is rendered a capella with chipmunked da-da-da-das and reverby "brrrangs" taking the place of Townsend's strums and windmills. The lead vocal warbles like it was bounced too many times. The almost unrecognizable cover of Nine Inch Nail's "Closer" (it turns country, sorta) might be the lead draw. Britney Spears' "Oops I Did It Again" as a "poem" with sound effects is a creep-out like a phone call from a stalker; if I were going to put something from this disc on a mix, it'd be my pick.

top of page

pathetic caverns home

comment (opens in new window)

unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

all contents © 1995-2004 d. mayo-wells except where otherwise noted.