SpenniesThe Self-Righteous Brothers - Love Songs For The Wrong At Heart
July 7th 2006 01:39
THE SELF-RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS
Love Songs For The Wrong At Heart (2005)
Independent
Produced by Jason & Lyndsay Self-Righteous
Link to page at Shock Records
The Self-Righteous Brothers are the offbeat side-project for Frenzal Rhomb lads Jay and Lyndsay (also TripleJ breakfast hosts Jay & the Doctor). Basically - as the title suggests - their shtick is playing lovely acoustic songs featuring offensive subject matter and lyrical content, taking the piss out of everything and anything along the way. Yes, I might as well have said Frenzal in stripped back acoustic mode, although the approach is quite a bit different so it doesn't exactly sound like a "Frenzal Rhomb Unplugged" album or anything.
While I'll say right now I don't think the whole 14 tracks on offer appeal to me, there are some really awesome tunes, both musically and lyrically. Probably my favourite track is the hilarious theme-esq "Self-Righteous" which has a massive dig at all the inner-west, bleeding-heart, left-wing, vegan types - a catagory I'm pretty sure the pair themselves easily slot into. With some very nice guitar work and lyrical gems such as "I'm better than you, so much better than you / I'll ride upon my high-horse until you see the truth" I'd say it rounds out everything these guys are about to a tee.
Some other stand-out tracks for me include "There's No Town Like Snowtown" which again is a really lovely tune to listen to, although it's in quite bad taste with the subject revolving around the infamous Snowtown murders, but hey, if you can't have a cheap laugh at the expense of others (no matter how taboo it may be) then I doubt you would get any of their humour. Whatever the case, I reckon it's a tops song. Then there's "Ruggedly Beautiful" - a song about falling in love with a hermaphrodite, and the awesome "Daddy Drinks Because You Cry" - which features special guest Bow Campbell (Front End Loader) having a bit of a sing and more instrumentation - with a brass section and piano creating a real crooner-style sound. "Emosexual" is a real crowd pleaser, and waxes upon all the things wrong with today's generation of cookie-cutter whinge-core bands. This is one of the best songs on the album, it's just really funny and well pieced together.
However, as I mentioned earlier, I haven't got all praise for The Self-Righteous Brothers. There's quite a few songs that I've never been able to get into. I'm not sure wether I just don't see the humour or not, but I think they should have maybe kept the stripped back approach, as some of the tunes like "Brothers in Arms" and "Who Will Buy (My Beautiful Baby)?" just sound a bit boring. They're not downright bad or anything, it just delves really heavily into slow ballad territory, and compared to the more upbeat stuff, I don't think they pull it off as well.
One thing that shines on "Love Songs For The Wrong At Heart" is the realisation that these guys are really very competent musicians. While people sometimes write off Frenzal Rhomb for being a cheap punk band or whatever, the songs here are complex at times, arranged really well and tackle quite a few different styles in the easy listening world with a fair degree of success. The vocal harmonies are another stand-out, they sound awesome and are littered through the entire album, sometimes really carrying a song.
So I guess it's a bit of a case of hit and miss. Some of the tracks on here are total gold and really funny, while others don't quite work. That's ok though - it's just a side project for the guys and you can tell they've had a lot of fun with the concept. For a home recording as well, it sounds fantastic. If you can dig catchy acoustic ballads with tongue-in-cheek lyrics then I'd say you would really enjoy this. I'd also recommend seeing the guys play live if you ever get the chance - as expected, they put on a great show and I've also found that some of the songs I don't like on the album, I've really enjoyed in the live arena (erm, pub...). An interesting release from a couple of very funny blokes.
Love Songs For The Wrong At Heart (2005)
Independent
Produced by Jason & Lyndsay Self-Righteous
Link to page at Shock Records
While I'll say right now I don't think the whole 14 tracks on offer appeal to me, there are some really awesome tunes, both musically and lyrically. Probably my favourite track is the hilarious theme-esq "Self-Righteous" which has a massive dig at all the inner-west, bleeding-heart, left-wing, vegan types - a catagory I'm pretty sure the pair themselves easily slot into. With some very nice guitar work and lyrical gems such as "I'm better than you, so much better than you / I'll ride upon my high-horse until you see the truth" I'd say it rounds out everything these guys are about to a tee.
However, as I mentioned earlier, I haven't got all praise for The Self-Righteous Brothers. There's quite a few songs that I've never been able to get into. I'm not sure wether I just don't see the humour or not, but I think they should have maybe kept the stripped back approach, as some of the tunes like "Brothers in Arms" and "Who Will Buy (My Beautiful Baby)?" just sound a bit boring. They're not downright bad or anything, it just delves really heavily into slow ballad territory, and compared to the more upbeat stuff, I don't think they pull it off as well.
One thing that shines on "Love Songs For The Wrong At Heart" is the realisation that these guys are really very competent musicians. While people sometimes write off Frenzal Rhomb for being a cheap punk band or whatever, the songs here are complex at times, arranged really well and tackle quite a few different styles in the easy listening world with a fair degree of success. The vocal harmonies are another stand-out, they sound awesome and are littered through the entire album, sometimes really carrying a song.
So I guess it's a bit of a case of hit and miss. Some of the tracks on here are total gold and really funny, while others don't quite work. That's ok though - it's just a side project for the guys and you can tell they've had a lot of fun with the concept. For a home recording as well, it sounds fantastic. If you can dig catchy acoustic ballads with tongue-in-cheek lyrics then I'd say you would really enjoy this. I'd also recommend seeing the guys play live if you ever get the chance - as expected, they put on a great show and I've also found that some of the songs I don't like on the album, I've really enjoyed in the live arena (erm, pub...). An interesting release from a couple of very funny blokes.
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