Published on Oct 6, 1998
It’s not often I’m part of a groundbreaking event – in this
case, the debut release from Glen Ballard’s Java Records. (In case
you’ve been living under a rock for the past three years, Ballard
is the producer behind Alanis Morissette’s
Jagged Little Pill.) Apparently not satisfied working with
musicians who can sell 15 million records, Ballard seems to have
turned his attention to signing artists that don’t have that kind
of commercial draw… yet.
Jamie Block is one such artist. An underground sensation (his
first album
Lead Me Not Into Penn Station was a big hit on college
radio), Block’s combination of folk, rock and simple weirdness
seems to be poised on the edge of greatness. Maybe that’s why this
album,
Timing Is Everything, is so named.
If you’re looking for an all-out folk or an all-out rock album,
then you’d best be looking elsewhere at Borders. Block simply takes
the walls dividing the two forms of music and knocks them down. The
opening track “3rd Mall From The Sun” has enough elements of folk
that can still be recognized, even though the overall sound has a
harder edge than you might expect. It’s a great way to start out
the album, featuring crisp production work from Block and Mark
Hutchins.
Block clearly has a sense of humor, and lets it shine in many
places on
Timing Is Everything. How else can you explain a glorious
noise such as “I Used To Manage PM Dawn,” a song that ridicules the
seedy side of the music industry? If it weren’t done
tongue-in-cheek, such a song would seem to be venomous – this is
where Block’s style of delivery works to his advantage. Likewise,
the all-out rocker “Rhinoceros”… aw, who am I kidding, I’m not
sure what this song is about, but it’s so good that I don’t much
care. (Can we say “potential single”?)
But just when you think that
Timing Is Everything is about to settle into a comfortable
groove, Block throws curveballs right at your head. His cover of
“Catch A Falling Star” knocked me for a loop – and had me trying to
remember when the last time I heard this song was. (Was it in a
movie? A commercial?) It’s a bizarre twist to the album, but not
inapporpriate. And when you think that Block might not take
anything seriously, he throws tracks like “Sick Of Life,” “Queen Of
5th Street” and “The Pink House Must Burn” at you – and you’d
better be ready to catch the messages in those songs.
The only real negative about
Timing Is Everything is that it gets spotty at times. Tracks
like “I Call Her Vicious” and “I-95” don’t capture my attention the
way that others like “Cigarettes, Prozac & Scotch” do – pity,
’cause the weak moments seem to be scattered throughout the album.
Fortunately for Block, there aren’t many moments like this, and the
album overall keeps my interest. (Another complaint? The album’s
too short. So many artists pad weak albums with filler, making the
stronger albums seem like they need more material to be
complete.)
So,
Timing Is Everything is enjoyable; this much we’ve decided
on. Next challenge: Where is this album going to fit in the world
of American radio? Well, no one seemed to know what to do with Beck
a few years ago, and he’s fit in quite nicely into his own niches.
The same must happen for Block. First, push tracks like “3rd Mall
From The Sun” on alternative radio, and push tracks like
“Rhinoceros” on rock radio. Soon enough, you should get enough
interest from both camps to create a superstar.
Timing Is Everything is the kind of album that you want to
spend more time with in order to get its messages clearly, yet you
always feel like you haven’t spent enough time with it, no matter
how many listens. Fortunately, it’s such a good album that you can
listen to it again and again.