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Frenemies:
Friendship
Have you ever heard the music of the exciting new band from Baltimore called Oxes? Don't feel bad, I've never heard them either. I'm not proud of this fact, but its hard work keeping up with all these bands nowadays. I first heard of Oxes when their release Oxxxes made a decent impact on college radio, and I saw it on the Top 20 list of my old radio station WCWM. Well, I meant to check the album out a few years back but forgot to. And now to rub it in, I get to review Frenemies Friendship LP, the solo debut from Oxes drummer Chris Freeland. Maybe there's an advantage to reviewing a solo album when you've never heard the main project; my mind is clear, and I can give Frenemies an honest, straightforward review. And I must say that there is some fun stuff on this release. The first five songs are pretty darn good, and they have a clear production sound and intriguing style that seems to wander around in some interesting ways. Opener, "Love," has some interesting echo effects and a touch of subtle keyboard and piano that get paired up with a driving beat, reminding me a little of Spoon. The song "Ceremonies" is startlingly catchy, but then again, how could any song that rips off guitar licks from Tommy Tutone not be catchy. Perhaps it was an accident. But that's cool; the song's still good, and I can forgive a little 867-530nieeyine flashback. What I absolutely cannot forgive, however, is track number six "440 La Starring Jones." Yes, Chris Freeland or somebody starts to rap on this track, and lord help me, I can only agree with the lines "I'm back, Second verse, If you hate the first, The second is worse". Alright, so the song is very light-hearted, and at least they aren't trying to be serious here. I just don't want to hear this kind of stuff. I personally have a hard enough time getting into real hip-hop, and I have no patience for third-rate imitations. I mean, if Madonna can't pull off a white rap, what makes you think that you can? I'm very nervous that Kylie Minogue's new album "Body Language" apparently has a rap section, but I'm willing to wager that she knows what she's doing. I wish I could say the same for Frenemies. But, enough with the dissing yo'. Only two tracks out of twelve have such flava'. The song "Big 4 You" returns right back to the odd yet intriguing song structures that started off this album. The title track, "Friendship," is a bit short, but it sounds like it could have been written for one of Graham Coxon's solo albums. And the album closer, "I'm Free Again," sounds sort of like a nice, normal song up until the last ten seconds when the vocals get warped into a ghostly echo effect that can only be created using the same machine Scott Hardkiss utilized on his song "Infinitely Gentle Blows." This is a nice touch, and I am left with mixed feelings about a CD that's list price is apparently an affordable $7.49. Without the rap tracks, this would make an interesting sort of experimental release. I just wish all the cool pieces of potential could be used to form something a little more concrete; but at least the album has a fresh (no pun intended) sound. Approach at you own risk!
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