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Gist: Art Is Now Human
Gist has released their first full-length album on their own label, Red Stapler Records. As you might have been able to guess, the logo for this label is a picture of a stapler. Just what you would have expected, right? Here comes the curveball: the stapler on the album sleeve is BLUE! Now this can only mean one of two things: either Gist is a bunch of idiots, or they are out to mess with my mind. The first time I listened to the Gist album was on my computer. I popped the CD in, and thats when I discovered that they included a video for their song Scalpel Please. If MTV ever gives out an award for The Most Boring Video In The Entire World, Gist will be nominated. More evidence to support my theory that Gist just might be a bunch of idiots. So then I finally listened to their album a few times, and I am happy to report that Gist are NOT a bunch of idiots. Though they had me worried there for a little bit. The best part of Art Is Now Human is the music. Its written and arranged very well. These are not three chord pop songs. Theyre more complicated than that, with lots of nifty changes that keep you interested and paying attention. Some oddball instruments make unexpected appearances. But this album sounds great as a whole, often switching between songs seamlessly. This is the kind of music that smart people write. If only the lyrics were as smart as the music... My big complaint was that some of the lyrics seemed to have been written by the bad poets of a high school creative writing class. Overall they have a very stream-of-conscious feel, which Im usually fine with, but sometimes it comes off a little too forced. This is not to say that all of the lyrics are bad in fact some are quite good. I just wish they would have been up to par with the music. Gist has been around since 1995, and based on what Ive heard on their album, Im willing to bet that they put on one hell of a live show. After listening to the album, I want to hear these songs in a live setting. This CD is good, but Im sure its ten times better in a crowded bar. Plus after a few rum and cokes, I might just forgive them for that video.
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