End of Love

Clem Snide | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 22, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Spin Art
• ASIN: B0007N19ZU
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #144,857 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Rolling Stone February 10, 2005

three and half stars - after-hours music that makes you laugh while tugging at your heartstrings.

Product Description

"End of Love" finds this indie pop-rock band in tip-top form, at turns witty (no surprise) and empathetic A- Clem Snide, the musical vehicle for lyricist/singer/songwriter Eef Barzelay, is a group of art-pop revelers with old-school country & western leanings, noted for their dynamic, hard-to-classify records recalling the likes of Neil Young, Tom Waits and Jonathan Richman. The band has released four full-length albums, and will release its fifth - "End Of Love" - on February 22. 2005. "End of Love" utilizes noted musicians and friends Ben Perowsky (credits include the Lounge Lizards, Elysian Fields), Lara Meyerratken (Crooked Fingers), Paul Burch (Lambchop, Paul Burch and the WPA Ballclub), Tony Crow and Ben Martin (Lambchop), amongst the regulars in the Clem Snide troop : Pete Fitzpatrick, Brendan Fitzpatrick and Eric Paull. The record is the first Produced solely by Barzelay and is recorded by noted engineers Bryce Goggin (Pavement) and Mark Nevers (Calexico).

Clem Snide has previously performed on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" and "The Late Late Show on CBS," amongst others. Clem Snide's fanbase is growing by its involvement with featured tracks on two high profile compilations. On "The Late Great Daniel Johnston" (Gammon) Clem Snide is featured among Tom Waits, Beck, Flaming Lips, Bright Eyes and Death Cab for Cutie. While "The Future Soundtrack for America" (Barsuk) again links Clem Snide with David Byrne, REM, They Might Be Giants and TheYeah Yeah Yeahs.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MELANCHOLIC OPTIMISM!, June 1, 2005

By 

blucheez (GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: End of Love (Audio CD)

Ghost of Fashion was recommended to me by someone who knows how I love violins! I downloaded most of the songs from it, burnt them, and happily carried them around for ages before I got the brilliant idea to explore more Clem Snide. Man! All I can say is what *took* me so long!? But this cd in particular makes me so happy! I can add it to the handful of discs that I look forward to every song on. Nope--no song skipping here, although I do have my favorites.

Lyrically--it's good. Not as much obscureness as Ghost of Fashion, but still a few odd moments. A couple spots are a bit contrived, but nothing that makes your teeth hurt. All forgivable in the big picture. Perhaps the most manipulative moment is in "Made for TV Movie", which is almost an intentional tear-jerker referencing Lucille Ball (how cool is that?). A child sings the "La la la la's" along with Eef, and you gotta wonder if your heartstrings were mistakenly plucked in place of the guitar strings for a minute there. But somehow, it works. It's a pleasure you might not want to share with your more cynical mates.

Musically, it's innovative and solid. This "Alt Country" movement is the antidote to Guitar-Bass-Drum for me. And I loove guitar. But sometimes it just needs freshening with banjo, violin, vibraphone, saxophone, and definitely--trombone! The instrumentation is fresh and optimistic.

The songs range from the out-and-out funny of the boot-scooting, rollicking "pub hit", "Weird"; to the more polished, pop, and infectious "Fill Me With Your Light". (You can see the video for this if you visit the Clem Snide website.)

So, my fave three, in no particular order:

FUNNY: The "Latin-esque" "Something Beautiful". Never. Ever. Has another song done so much toward making being passive-aggressive this much fun!

MELANCHOLY: I've heard "Collapse" is about the death of Eef's mother, but don't know any details or for sure. The components of a disaster however, are definitely woven throughout lyrically. The banjo winding throughout, the imagery (can we have another word for this, please?) eg. "a grass roots initiative based upon sharing and trust...went into production to harness the power of dust...", the plaintive vocal ... a sad beauty.

SUNNY: I'm completely in love with "When We Become" with its strings, lilting keys ... that poignant violin solo that with its optimistic warmth reminds me of the Leonard Cohen lyric "...the sun pours down like honey..." I really feel that rich golden sun in this song. It is just one of those uplifting beautiful numbers -- and hey!-- it takes a lot to get me out of my preference for dark and emotionally painful! Congratulations Clem Snide for doing that! I'm going to get some more!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best Clem Snide in 4 years, February 25, 2005

By 

Anthony Lucia (Grand Forks, ND) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: End of Love (Audio CD)

While it was evident in Soft Spot that Eef Barzelay found something in his life that he was desperately missing while he was writing Clem Snide's first three albums, it was also fairly clear that a lot of intensity and drama wasn't present. Plain and simply put, it was the `happy album.' And as anybody that's ever listened to Clem Snide knows, you didn't buy Soft Spot because you were expecting three or four of the songs to be sub-three minute filler.

That is exactly the reason why listening to End of Love provided a sigh of relief-at least a slight one-that helped us realize if we can't ever get back to You Were a Diamond or Your Favorite Music, we at least have something worth our time as far as Clem Snide is concerned.

Granted we don't hear the harmonizing of Jason Glasser's cello and violin or the trademark three-four waltz time of so many of our Clem Snide favorites. But Eef has put together a worthy mixture of emotions, songwriting, and his left-handed lyrics that can have you laughing before you're done wiping away your "poignant tear."

There are a few tracks that echo past Clem Snide songs, including "Jews for Jesus Blues" and the melancholy "Made for TV Movie," but a lot combines new with the old, which is exactly what makes this album unique and acceptable. "When We Become" is possibly the most beautiful song written in the past year and a half.

Oh, and I heard some banjo in a track. And who doesn't like banjo?

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Now That I'm Found, I Miss Being Lost, November 18, 2005

By 

jeffrey christian (brooklyn ny) - See all my reviews

This review is from: End of Love (Audio CD)

Nothing groundbreaking on album number 5, and that's a beautiful thing, because if it's one thing we rely upon with Eef, it's his absolute sincerity, deadpan surrealism and steadfast belief. The dichotomy of Brooklyn and Nashville, where he was rooted and sojourned to, trickles in and out of his lyrics, as does loss [he lost his mother this past year, as did his wife], confusion, awareness, and inevitably, love. It's a rock n' stroll by the deftest songwriter since Randy Newman. Words to live by: `Now that I'm found I miss being lost'. My grade: A-