Customer Reviews

The Airbag's Lipstick Kiss

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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.

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.

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!

Chris Willie Williams is at it again with his one man band Disclaimer's second album, The Airbag's Lipstick Kiss (and the first one to actually be released on a record label), one of those currently rare albums that maintains a great balance between creative experimentation and pop melody that's really hard to find in modern music now. Maybe the overall charm of his debut (Bombs By Night, Balloons By Morning) isn't as apparent here, though the lyrics still very much have that clever twist to them that was really enjoyable before), it's made up for in several other areas - better production, arrangements and even more interesting effects, more variety in singing approaches, and several other improvements that you wouldn't exactly associate any kind of sophomore slump with.

The main thing here, though, is that the material is of even more consistently higher quality, with fewer decent but nothing special throwaways and more absolute classics of home recorded music. The opening "Fixing A Hole" fits into the latter category, and also has nothing at all in common with the Sgt. Pepper tune of the same name. It's very much in the vein of Disclaimer's moodier stuff, pulling off the incredible feat of having the lyrics being a laundry list of what Willie wants to change about himself ('I've got to be less weepy', 'I've got to stop quoting from Simpsons', etc.) sung through a vocoder, and not sounding at all cheesy doing it. The vocal melody is brilliant on here, and there's such neat additions such as a change to a reggae tempo in the chorus and a haunting spoken word break. Even the really short song on here ("Vending Machine") manages to work just as well on its' own as it does in the context of the album, with incredibly distorted vocals and instruments to create a fascinatingly chaotic atmosphere.

Also, "You Ruined Everything" and "Wrong For The Right Reasons Is Still Wrong" are actually improvements over the decent, but less spectacular, fast rockers on Bombs By Night. The former is a great example of Willie using his voice more effectively than before over a catchy distorted indie rock background (so much for the dorky singing on "Bet She's Not Your Girlfriend"!), and you can add his yells of 'I got screwwwwed...' to the list of great hooks he's managed to come up with. The latter is a really jangly tune apparently in the same breakup vein that's actually really catchy despite its' awkwardly paced melody, and where else but on the curiously titled "God Said, 'Plastics!'" could you find such a seamless transition between two guitars battling each other between speakers, kazoo-like guitar soloing and quieter, hypnotizing sections featuring great lines like 'prayer has been reduced to a cheat code'?

The interesting variety in approaches here doesn't exactly stop with those tracks, either. "Like The Backside Of A Bullimic's Teeth (#1: Bats = Bugs)" has a really creepy goth ballad atmosphere within its' guitar line and lyrics ('like the spiders we swallow in our sleep'), and is that a Calvin And Hobbes reference I spot in the subtitle there? Awesome! "Generic Shoulder Blade Tattoo" is a quiet guitar ballad that attempts to befuddle the listener by adding absolutely messed up lyrics to its' pretty atmosphere ('you suck the goo from your fingers, as you discredit my memoirs'), and the best description I can come up with for "Mufasa Kisses"? Middle Eastern-flavored electronica sort of in the vein of Mr. Bungle's "Desert Search For Techno Allah", with unsettling techno beats, keyboard and guitar lines helping to create that atmosphere. Also, that dissonant computer-generated voice ('I don't want to know what you do for him that you never did for me...') is a chilling perspective on the breakup theme covered in a few of these other songs.

And to think, I haven't even mentioned the song that got me interested in Disclaimer. "Hell" boasts a simple, but highly infectious, sort of 'wah wah' riff going, and quite colorful lyrics, and I also really love the low-register quality of the vocals, smart bouncy vocal hook, and especially the twisted take on a famous Abbey Road lyric in the chorus ('in the end the love you take is inversely proportional to the love you make...'). Also, very well-produced, and the feedback use is particularly creative.

Moving on, we have Joe Hinchcliffe contributing guest vocals and synth bass on the closer here, "Please Pardon Our Progress!!", a really shattering tune His vocal spots, surprisingly enough, have a haunting, angelic quality that contrasts really well with the abrasive guitar noise of the rest (a combination Willie himself, to paraphrase, describes as the Beach Boys meet the Butthole Surfers), and that incredibly well constructed opening riff (not to mention the dense production) has a huge epic quality that just adds to the drama. And the intense chants of 'HAPPINESS IS NO LONGER AN OPTION!!!' bring the experience to a gripping ending.

The Airbag's Lipstick Kiss isn't completely flawless, though, as excellent as it is. The vocal melody to "De Sitter Horizons" is rather non-descript and rambling, and the slower, mostly boring and repetitive arrangement it has doesn't exactly allow the song to overcome that. Plus, it's unfortunately one of the longest songs on here at over 4 minutes. But apart from that song, I really don't have any specific complaints about this mostly excellent effort - maybe it's a bit too short for me at 37 minutes (discounting the effects-laden hidden bonus track "I Couldn't End It There", which has multiple relaxing melodies to hold my attention), but that's OK, as a concise album will always be more preferrable to a lengthy one with an overly excessive amount of filler. Here's hoping that Disclaimer's really promising career will positively take off, and maybe Willie can bring even more accomplished songwriters and musicians into the mix.

If you create an acronym of each of the first letters of the album title, it creates a particular word. This word in the case of new band Disclaimer becomes "talk". Several of the songs here lyrically describe a relationship breakdown, so the word "talk" seems particularly appropriate. 'The Airbags Lipstick Kiss' is an album with depth, with lyrical meaning and messages. It's an album that makes the listener believe that it matters, an album that you'll keep listening to regularly for years, rather than months.

The overall sound is relatively lo-fi, but the invention beneath the surface of the production, the attention to detail through many of the songs, very impressive. 'Vending Machine' contains voices and melodies and vocals layered over each other and becomes a very fascinating thing. Highlights? 'Generic Shoulder Blade Tattoo' is a very pretty track musically and vocally - clever lyrically. The distorted guitars of the enjoyable 'You Ruined Everything'. 'Wrong For The Right Reasons', a wordy song with a fast tempo and a rush of melody. The last song proper is particularly impressive. Uneasy harmonies with voices shifting over each other, yet the effect is absolutely glorious. In a perfect world, 'Please Pardon Our Progress!' and 'Generic Should Blade Tattoo' would be hit singles. We don't live in a perfect world, but the quality and intelligence of 'The Airbag's Lipstick Kiss' indicates to me that Disclaimer really are onto something here.

"Jesus, what happened?" was the only thought I could come up with when I'd listened to Disclaimer's new album a few times. It's not just that his first `official' album is such a considerable improvement on Bombs by Night, Balloons by Morning, but I suppose it also reflected the state Willie was in when he recorded the album. The Airbag's Lipstick Kiss is not only an album that exudes undiluted anger and bitterness - especially lyrically, although the music has become noticeably less frivolous as well -, but it also makes a point of dissecting its very essence in 11 chapters that leave nothing to the imagination, ranging from the confused ("Fixing a Hole"), to the spiteful ("You Ruined Everything") and the completely disillusioned ("Please Pardon Our Progress"). It's pretty obvious that what lies at the foundation of this depressing album is a broken relationship, and the way in which Willie refers to it is often spine-chillingly outspoken, as the sleeve-notes reveal a disheartening series of accusations ("You ruined everything, and you say the pain you've cause is `exhausting' "), pessimist thoughts (" `Still friends' works for you because we're defined by distance, decorum and rules you've decided"), and sheer defeatism ("Happiness is no longer an option" is the album's last `message').

Fortunately (?), the whole mess instigated Willie to phrase it as truthfully and inventively as possible. Yes, "Vending Machine" is again one of his awkward metaphors, but it works here, as it seems to work throughout the course of the entire album. Randomly tossed sentences and references have made way for a much more focused, intriguing and merciless approach, with an uncompromising attitude you rarely encounter. One of the reasons why I waited so long to tackle this album was that it felt like looking at a huge, infected, open wound. I mean: "It's like being punched in the face over and over and over and over. I wish we could be erased and taped over with porn, because my ears are gushing", and continuing towards an obsession with decay in "so this is what it's like to rot (like the backside of a bulimic's teeth") and self-destruction ("Watch yourself crash into things"), and I should poke in that? The pain was still fresh, the anger white-hot, and the person that's constantly referred to (but never named) got one huge 40-minute beating. Not only the lyrics have `blossomed', but also the music is much stronger than on the previous release. The production is still quite amateurish by major label-standards, but for my money, only a few minor details could've been better (the `rhythm section' deserved to be pronounced a bit more a few times). As for the songs, they're pretty consistent and most of `em would've been highlights on Bombs. From the use of vocoder during "Fixing a Hole" to the sometimes confusing/nauseating vocal harmonies of "Please Pardon Our Progress" (by Willie and Joe Hinchcliffe, whose soft, breathy voice was a great addition to the already terrific song), lyrics and music are suitably adjusted to each other. Feeling like a throwaway and having lost a sense of respect is translated into music by the use of voice manipulation, angular accents and sudden rhythmic shifts (making "God Said, `Plastics!'" sound like an early, robotic XTC-song) and elaborated distortion (into the short but memorable "Vending Machine").

The conventional-sounding "Generic Shoulder Blade Tattoo" resembles Elliott Smith's impeccably crafted and lushly embellished music (and I'm sucker for those vocals), while "Hell" announces itself as Disclaimer's candidate for "Song of the Year." With striking imagery ("Your name is stitched into my back, a rejection jersey I can't get out of" - what a great find), hints of feedback throughout the song, and an uncomfortable vocal melody that's both sinister and touching (check it out if you think it doesn't make sense), it's a song that reveals it's qualities only after repeated listens. "Wrong for the Right Reasons Is Still Wrong" initially comes off as a novelty track that tries to reconcile Camper Van Beethoven's silliness with They Might Be Giants', uh, silliness, but the lyrics only speak of disappointment. In the meantime, we've also had "Bulimic's Teeth," which tries to hard to reconcile the wordy lyrics with the music and ends up sounding clumsy, and the quite directionless "Mufasa Kisses," but they just can't prevent Airbag from making a sizeable impact. After the uneven debut, I wished Willie a sophomore album that would contain the coherence and consistency his first effort seemed to lack and I got what I wanted, but did he? Probably not how he wanted. Maybe the things that have happened taught him how to separate the usable from the lesser ideas, but it's a fact that this album is indeed - as Steve Knowlton in his surgically precise analysis of the album argues - his Sgt. Pepper's as opposed to the charming but humble beginnings of Bombs (his Please Please Me). It's still a bit too early to consider him the savior of rock `n' roll or anything, but if he keeps progressing like this, God only knows what might happen. As long as things run a bit smoother for Willie, and I don't have to feel like a voyeur each time, I'm already looking forward to the next chapter. Word, Willie!

Note: There's a hidden track after the grand closing song, "I Couldn't End It Here," but it's somewhat deserving of its bonus track-status.

Disclaimer (Chris Willie Williams) is not suicidal because of the abrupt end to his relationship that inspired "Airbag". Instead, being a cursedly rational man, CWW is able to meticulously dissect his feelings post-love, and does so with remarkable fluency. Though often blaming the other side in his attacking style, CWW comes off as truly disturbed, and (perhaps) justifiably angry.

As for the music, it's quite good, considering the platform (home PC with Cakewalk or some comparable program). His voice is iffy at best; the arrangments, which often feature surprising blips and boops and other idiosyncrasies, cover for his vocal inadequacies.

Overall, this is about as good as you could expect a home-produced record to be. Lyrically, it is truly genius:

You can push your thumb through my soft spot and wiggle it around to make me march.

I don't want to know what you do for him that you never did for me.

(And the brilliant)
The contrast burns, being fêted, fellated, and then filleted.

And "Generic Shoulder Blade Tattoo" is simply gorgeous and perfect.