[Sidebar] The Worcester Phoenix
December 25 - January 1, 1998

[Music Reviews]

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*** Number One Cup

PEOPLE PEOPLE WHY ARE WE FIGHTING?

(Flydaddy)

This Chicago foursome can't resist a sly wink at rock-culture detritus -- in this case an album title that cops Mick Jagger's plea to the skirmishing Hell's-Angels'-infested crowd at Altamont. With songs named "(Who Awaits) The Countdown?" and "What Does It Mean?" and lyrics that don't really answer those questions, Number One Cup are obscurantists in the vein of Pavement (but with a more pronounced fondness for electro-pop that's always been hinted at and is getting more prominent with each release). Like their excellent 1996 disc, Wrecked by Lions, Why Are We Fighting? is as stimulating in its music as it is perplexing in the lyric department. This time the band's angular yet classic-sounding riffs, their dovetailing melodies, and the glandular-by-gradation vocals of the three song-swapping lead singers are the backdrop for meditations on Canada disappearing and ice melting around batteries -- the latter of which is, and I'm guessing here, about a gin-and-tonic warming up the singer's heart.

-- Jonathan Perry
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