Published on Apr 30, 1999
A bitter battle was waged last summer. A battle that would
consume all of the time and energy of those involved; a battle
between the good hearted and those who wished to squash the wills
of those who wanted to succeed merely because they were evil; a
battle between Alison and her boss.
In fact, the battle was waged over a simple little music
festival in Seattle, called Bumbershoot, which Alison desperately
wanted to attend due to the fact that one of the bands she had
loved for a long time, the Posies, were playing there. Her boss, on
the other hand, felt that there was no need for this frivolity; he,
instead, demanded that she spend at least 12 hours of that day in
front of a computer doing nothing remotely useful to the company
(unlike, of course, the very useful stuff she usually did).
So, inside the electronic dungeon, Alison pined away for the
Posies. Little did she know that that pining would be only followed
by remorse and anger when she found, later that month, that the
Bumbershoot show was her last opportunity to see the band – they
had broken up! (No!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
This break up, though, was pre-empted by the release of the
Posies fifth and final album, ironically titled
Success. (Their first album, also on the same label, was
called
Failure; the other 3 were released on a different label.
Talk about cyclical.) So, Alison was somewhat saved… although she
was still bitter.
Amazing Disgrace, the Posies’ previous offering, marked a
somewhat dramatic change in the band’s sound and musical attitude;
their sweet poppy sound, underlined by dark and sometimes sarcastic
lyrics, was replaced by bitter ranting and blunt disgust for the
music industry itself. The album earned itself a “Parental Warning”
sticker for two songs: “Everybody Is A Fucking Liar” and “Ontario”
(which features the word “shit”). This was definitely a surprise
for anyone expecting something remotely similar to “Dream All Day,”
one of the Posies biggest hits and a single from the previous
album,
Frosting On The Beater, which, well, didn’t contain any
swearing or overtly negative emotions at all.
Success, sound-wise, is more reminiscent of the days before
Amazing Disgrace. Once again, the songs sound sweeter and
are not as obviously angry. That is not to say, though, that they
lost the edge developed during that one furious album; songs like
“Looking Lost” have that hard-rock guitar rift which just screams
“I am NOT HAPPY!”
The saddest thing that one realizes when listening to this album
is that the Posies, who perfected the sweet sentiment (even if it
was a bitter one), aren’t going to be around anymore. “You’re The
Beautiful One,” which clocks in at almost six minutes, is a long,
bittersweet, wonderful ode. This song makes me want to cry every
time I hear it. “There’s no kiss; no kiss I’d trade for you /
there’s no kiss; no disciple I wouldn’t betray for you / you’re the
beautiful one, of course you knew…” Oh boy, if I could only
make you know how that sounds, people. Go find a RealAudio stream.
I mean it.
Even worse, who else in the world is going to write a love song
about a typewriter?! (“Farewell Typewriter”) It hurts, man.
The main question that people have had since the breakup of the
band, and especially after listening to the pure genius that is
most of this record, is “Why?” There is no real competition in the
music arena for the genre that the Posies covered. The only other
one which comes to mind is Toad The Wet Sprocket, and look! They
broke up too! It’s a conspiracy against power pop!
Overall, if you love the Posies, you will love this album. Even
if you don’t like the Posies, I think you’ll find this album pretty
damn good. The album encompasses all of the changes the band has
made during the years; now it’s time to wave goodbye.