*** 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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