Fitten Trim – Geek Rock For Geeks Who Like Rock
Spend hours in record bins
Even though Pavement won’t record again
As badly timed lyrics go, they don’t get much better than that.
It’s difficult to take this album seriously at the start. The cover art is a bit silly. When you look at the back you see titles like Pissed Off Bon Jovi Cover Band. Then there’s that title. Part of you thinks it’s a wry, self-depreciating comment about the band. The other part thinks it’s entirely serious.
This is a remarkably earnest record. It’s silly at times, and the songs include brief little fragments and random tangents. But there is a genuine love for the subject matter here. The line above isn’t the only Pavement reference. The liner notes (possibly the greatest I’ve ever read) include a wonderful story about meeting Larry David. Which I’m sure is something we’ve all pondered at one point or anything.
The music here isn’t showy in the least. Every song is direct and to the point, merely there to service the words. The fact that it takes until the finale on a 19 song album to find something longer than four minutes speaks to the efficiency involved. You have to go back to some of the great power pop records of the 90s to find much to compare with this. It’s not a perfect album, and there are certainly a handful of ill-judged songs. By and large though, Geek Rock: For Geeks Who Like Rock is a thoroughly enjoyable little romp.
Geek Rock: For Geeks Who Like Rock is out now on Caveat Emptor
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