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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
awsome album, but hard to find..., May 1, 2006
The other reviews say all you'll need to know, this album one of my personal favorites. The purpose of this message is to inform you that you can get this album for $13.99 from bar-none.com, just search for drink me and order direct. $35 is an exorbitant price for anything that isn't atleast a two disc set.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
Good but flawed, November 23, 2006
I got interested in this group after I heard a National Public Radio profile on them a few months ago. I liked the playful, thoughtful, and sad elements in the sound clips that I heard. Then, I read all the flattering reviews of this CD on Amazon. I was especially interested when I saw that people were comparing Drink Me to Syd Barrett and to other people who I like a lot.
I managed to snag a used copy of this CD for a good price. I'm glad that I didn't pay full price. I think it is a good but a very uneven CD. There are some really wonderful moments like the playful "Little Green Men," the deeply moving "Train to Chicago" and the late night drinking song "My Ship's Rolling In." In those cases, the thin, fragile lead vocal and the stripped down arrangements create a sense of intimacy in the songs. Those are the moments that really shine on this CD.
Unfortunately, there are some moments where the reedy vocals thin arrangements don't work as well. One of the worst offenders is "Tiny Saxophone," which has a high pitched squealing sound that runs the entire length of the song. That annoying sound would have been more forgivable in a bigger, warmer arrangement but in the spare, high pitched arrangement used here it is just painful. Then there are the bits that come off like throw-away novelty tunes. For example there is a silly cover of James Brown's "I Got You (I Feel Good)" that would probably have gone over well in a live setting but it is just too frivolous to withstand multiple playings. Then, there is "Song of the Ice Cream Truck," which sounds like a recording of a nervous teenager struggling through a childeren's song at a talent show.
So, again, I would have been very disappointed if I paid top dollar for this CD (I've seen it listed in various places for anywhere from $37 to $75). To my ears, about 1/3rd of this CD is really great, 1/3rd is okay, and 1/3rd is totally annoying.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Slightly unsettling and quite wonderful..., August 21, 1999
I don't know if this is truly "acid folk"...nor do I particularly care if this group owes any credit to artificial inspiration. What does matter is that this recording is devoid of the pretentiousness and lack of clarity that I would have associated with the term (and which made me a bit wary of this recording in the first place). While there's something decidedly on the far side of "quirky" about this group, the musical textures are simple, lucid, and beautifully recorded...and there IS a sense of humor! I'm not crazy about the more sophomoric humor ("Ladies Underwear", "Sugar Lump-Lump"), but "Song of the Ice Cream Truck" is charming and the arrangement of "I Got You (I Feel Good)" with accordian and ukelele is great fun. In fact, every track with Will Holshouser's accordian is a highlight -- his playing (and, presumably, his arrangements) give the recording great ZING! and professionalism. (The guest artists are all quite wonderful, in fact; I particularly thought Kurt Hoffman's bass clarinet a lovely touch and Brian Dewan's electric zither is as haunting as ever.) I'm not quite sure what the band's Brooklyn origin explains (as has been the blanket explanation from more than one source!), but I'm curious and looking forward to hearing more!
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by Drink Me 
