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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
exciting and creative,
By
This review is from: The Airbag's Lipstick Kiss (Audio CD)
Before I get into the review, I want to first say that I am a big fan of creativity in music. I usually take notice and admire the little things to briefly appear in a song, whether it's a sound effect or a cool awkward musical note, as long as it's something that steps away from the main melody I will notice it and usually think highly of it. It's fun hearing instruments and sound effects located in spots you would never expect to hear them in. You're sitting there listening to a song for the very first time, thinking you have a good idea how it will go, then suddenly something weird comes along and either spices things up or changes the song completely. I LOVE that!! The Airbag's Lipstick Kiss will surprise you on several occasions with plenty of unexpected moments of weirdness and coolness. Plenty of twists and turns. There are lots of reasons why this album is interesting to me, but one thing that makes it stand above other albums is that, while listening to any one of the songs, you won't be able to predict what kind of experiment Chris will suddenly insert into his music. You won't be able to predict when and how he uses these experiments. And this happens in nearly every song. At any moment something weird and exciting could come out of nowhere. But get this: even if The Airbag's Lipstick Kiss didn't include any wild experimentation, it would still be a great listen because the songwriting is super-strong and Chris is constantly exploring different styles of music and mixing them in with complex pop. The result is always exhilarating. Melodically, this is a completely satisfying album. Like any album, you will come across melodies stronger than other melodies, but I don't think there's a single bad or average melody on this album. It starts off with my favorite, "Fixing A Hole". This is NOT a cover of the Beatles song, and in fact, I like it even more than the Beatles song. Starting out with an almost robotic-sounding vocal melody, than switching into a normal singing voice with a light reggae flavor to it, it's a wonderful song! Let's not forget all the tiny neat musical tricks which help to make the song even more vibrant. "Fixing A Hole" begins an incredible variety of experimental ideas. Chris Williams put a lot of thought and emotion into this album. Every song is put together very carefully and creatively. I'm going to skip around a little bit and talk about the songs in a random order. "Hell" features three brilliant parts, all sounding much different from each other. The guitar and vocals are excellent, and the melody line "and I wonder if I've died and gone to hell" will absolutely knock you off your feet with its soft, eerie vibe. It's actually pretty damn cool hearing a highly melodic, eerie vocal melody appear immediately after an uplifting rocking section. As corny as this may sound, I like to think of the eerie section of "Hell" as a beautiful submarine ride, because of the peaceful flow of the melody, plus the underwater feeling it has. It's a classic. "Wrong For The Right Reasons Is Still Wrong" has EXACTLY the kind of melody to scare the living daylights out of me!! I can't explain it, but typically the type of music to give me the creeps are faster-paced songs with a sad tone in the singer's voice. The singing is really effective here, but in a disconcerting way, like I'm afraid to face something, and it kind of depresses me, but it's almost like I WANT to be depressed. I love it a lot. It makes me uncomfortable and comfortable at the same time! The way the vocal melody sadly and peacefully hurries along, it reminds me of myself running away from a major problem to be alone to think. "God Said, Plastics!" starts off rather normal. The normal part soon changes into a funky part, with the vocal style changing with it. The switch from normal to somewhat hectic fits very well. Then we have "Vending Machine". It rocks, it's catchy, it's packed with creative ideas, but it's too short! It's also hard making out the vocals (minor complaint!) "Generic Shoulder Blade Tattoo" is surprisingly basic, but perfectly shows Chris's talent for writing great vocal melodies. The vocal lines are written creatively and carry the song for the most part. "De Sitter Horizons" sets a perfect thinking mood. The jerky vocal melody makes it even more fascinating. It's written very well. It's one of those songs where you can picture lonely people thinking while hearing it and becoming really attached to it. The creative juices continue to flow on "Like The Backside Of A Bulimic's Teeth" which probably features the most depressingly interesting vocals on the album. It has a sad and lonely atmosphere to it, vocally quiet but moves at a comfortable pace, sort of like the third section of "Hell". It's a gloomy track that will probably have you thinking intensely about love and life. "Please Pardon Our Progress!!!" features incredible vocals from Joe Hinchcliffe. It begins with a marching drum pattern then drifting into an outer-spacey riff melody. And it's one catchy, well thought-out hypnotizing devastating riff! It tears through the walls and makes the mice run for cover! It reminds me of spaceships fighting each other or shooting laser beams at each other far out in the galaxy! I feel a rush of energy during each vocal line. I don't know which set of vocals excite me the most. Space rock madness! Then we have "You Ruined Everything" which is probably a punk song, or close to it. It has energy and certainly rocks! Has an incredibly strong chorus too. No matter which direction Chris takes his music he always makes sure to include a tremendous melody. Let me quickly mention the cool instrumental "Mufasa Kisses". It's very beautiful and features a piano, harmonica, synthesizer and maybe even an accordion! One thing's for certain, there's a lot of activity going on! Perhaps the most experimental and adventurous track here. I highly recommend picking up this album. You won't be disappointed if you like experimental pop.
4.0 out of 5 stars
This is really great stuff,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Airbag's Lipstick Kiss (Audio CD)
The back cover of Disclaimer's The Airbag's Lipstick Kiss features a photo of the man behind Disclaimer, Chris Willie Williams, standing with a morose look on his face and a sign on his chest that proclaims, "You Can Buy Me And Take Me Home." Aside from being an invitation to the prospective album buyer, this also serves as a warning. This album is Chris Willie William's soul poured out in digital form on a CD.Now, pure emotion just ain't enough to make an album good. It only takes a cursory listen to Pink Floyd's The Final Cut to confirm this fact. But Willie has managed the rarest of rock miracles: he's managed to combine his pointed opinions on breakups, and life in general with a musical sensibility that never fails to amaze with its near-mastery of melody. Let's get straight to the point here: This is the best indie-pop album since Guided By Voices' Bee Thousand. And while it isn't QUITE up to the level of Bob Pollard's masterpiece (although I'm convinced that Bob had help with some kind of deity in order to come up with some of those songs) Chris Willie's album hits you on a personal, emotional level, which Bee Thousand admittedly fails to do. "Fixing A Hole"'s twisty melody and breathy Vocoderized vocals wrap itself around your consciousness and refuse to let go. "God Said, Plastics" amazes at every turn with Peter Gabriel-ish washes of keyboard beauty during the verses and Devo-like jerkiness during the chorus. "Vending Machine" shows a definite Mark Prindle influence, which anyone knows can only be a good thing. "You Ruined Everything" could be a lost Nuggets track. "Generic Shoulder Blade Tattoo", while a bit sparse on the arrangements, is quite pretty. "Musafa Kisses" is hypnotic (and it's my brother's favorite song on the album, by the way). "De Sitter Horizons" is truly amazing in its evocation of a dying, diseased relationship that's just going through the motions. Others are a bit more impressed by "Hell" then I am; while the melody simply cannot be beat, I feel the chorus "and the love you take is inversely proportional to the love you make" is just a bit TOO clever. Nice bassline, though. And then there's the best track on the whole album, and the song which I feel is the best song released by any artist in 2003: "Please Pardon Our Progress." Joe Hinchcliffe's haunting backing vocals are what truly deposit this track firmly into the pantheon of rock masterpieces. And of course, where would we be without "I Couldn't End It There", a truly beautiful, relaxing song? A perfect ending to a near-perfect album. Of course, each album has its weaker songs, and Airbag has its in the forms of "Like The Backside Of A Bulimic's Teeth" and "Wrong For The Right Reasons Is Still Wrong." "Bulimic" has an awesome bassline to start out but inexplicably drops it for nondescript keyboard washes and kinda sophomoric lyrics. The creepy guitar line that pops up after the chorus is a keeper, though. "Wrong", again, has a nice melody, and moves along at a fast clip, but it's nondescript and it kind of runs by without much notice. In conclusion: Buy this album. Buy it. Why in the world is CWW not a millionaire and talentless losers like Nickelback and Avril Lavigne rich beyond their wildest dreams? The world ain't fair, but you can all make it more fair by ordering this album.
4.0 out of 5 stars
So this is what it's like to rot.,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Airbag's Lipstick Kiss (Audio CD)
When someone you love rejects you, sometimes the only way you can keep yourself alive is by being brilliant. This album is evidence that brilliance is Chris Williams' preferred method of survival. Somehow, Williams has created an entertaining, enjoyable, FUN record out of nothing but pure, undiluted despair, frustration, and self-hate. Part of the reason this oxymoron of a record works so well is Williams' refusal to take himself too seriously. He is certainly in pain from beginning to end, but he makes sure that the result is more than a maudlin self-pity party. The lyrical imagery is unsettling but always adequate. And the music, rather than conveying an unrelenting sense of depression and hopelessness, is in fact quite diverse and covers a far greater range of emotions than the average break-up record. The loping vocoder-pop of "Fixing A Hole," the petulant garage rock of "You Ruined Everything," the apocalyptic stomp of "Please Pardon Our Progress," and the out-and-out weirdness of "Mufasa Kisses" all ensure that the album is anything but a gray monolith of pain. With The Airbag's Lipstick Kiss, Williams proves that just because you've suffered for your art doesn't mean that your listeners have to as well.Go ahead, ignore Disclaimer. They're just an indie-pop band you've never heard of. You're a busy person. Time is money. But in three or four years, when Disclaimer are the hottest band in the land, you'll be telling everyone you liked them before they were popular. Now is your chance. Get on the Disclaimer train!
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