Poor Mike Brown. Someone done broke his heart. Poor Mike Brown. But lucky for him, he has the songwriting ability, sense of humor and rocking friends to turn his pain into some pretty good music. An engineer who worked with Matthew Sweet worked on this album, and Mr. Sweet is a good comparison to the sound Mike and the Sneakies make when they rock out. It's traditional songcraft mixed with powerful guitars and big drums, and it's done quite well.
"Fuck You" exemplifies Brown's aesthetic. The song samples an answering message that begins with "Hey Mike, this is Amanda. Just calling to tell you to never call me again," and ends with "fuck off." The closing sentiment comes in just before the music kicks in, and the music actually fits really well in rhythm with the message. I've heard the tactic employed before (on a Life of Agony album from 1993, for one) but it's still funny, and good venting for poor, poor Mike Brown. But most importantly, it leads into a fine, catchy song. The drum fills are huge, the guitar scorches, and the chorus is so singable it will probably get stuck in your head. Be warned: you may find yourself gleefully singing "fuck you and your stupid choices" at inappropriate moments without realizing what you're saying.
When they aren't rocking out a la Matthew Sweet, they're playing acoustic. Roughly half of the songs here are unplugged -- and while I'm trying to think of a band other than Hootie and the Blowfish that they sound like, that's all I can come up with, so that loaded comparison will have to suffice, though I don't really mean it as the harsh insult it seems. In fact, one of the Hootie-ish tracks, "Drag You Down", might just be brilliant. On the surface it sounds like a cheesy love song, but it features biting lyrics like "Love will leave you on the corner with no money to be found." Is this a brilliant satire of the genre, or is it just a corny song with unusually good anti-love lyrics? Tough call. The other acoustic songs repeat the same formula, and it eventually gets a little tiresome.
In fact, despite the band's skill, by the end of the disc you'll wish that Mike would change the subject -- everyone knows it's no fun to listen to your friend who just got dumped talk about it for 45 minutes. But I don't wish to be hurtful. Poor Mike Brown's been hurt enough.
