Clearing Out the Mailroom: Tuesday, February 17, 2009

We’ve got quite a backlog of CDs we’ve never gotten around to, so we’re going to try to chip away at the pile with this regular feature. The plan: to take four or five at a time and play each CD for as long as I can stand it.

East of Eden Band (Austin)
Send In The Clown
East of Eden Band play blues- and jazz-influenced rock accompaniment as Hedwig Gorski recites poetry. The first song, “From Box To Living Room To Box,” is a story of how she and a friend are invited to some bougie Yuppie’s house, where she ponders on how their unconventional ways must totally FREAK OUT their hosts, man. Her intonation is so over-the-top hippy-dippy, neo-Beatnik that it sounds like a parody of bad coffeeshop poetry. Unfortunately, I think they take themselves seriously.
I made it to: the middle of track 2

Kellie Pickler (Albemarle, North Carolina)
Kellie Pickler
This professional game-show contestant, product endorser and singer’s second album sounds just as sleekly commercial as you’d expect from a desperate American Idol also-ran. In this case, it’s NashVegas country-pop at its blandest. Or rather, the first track is. I couldn’t make it any farther. Too bad the music isn’t as interesting as she looks in the liner notes’ sexy pictures.
I made it to: the end of Track 1

Hey Monday (West Palm Beach, Florida)
Hold On Tight
Punky powerpop with a perky female singer, like Avril Lavigne with just a tad more street-cred. If you need some irritainment, check out their MySpace page. It’s a barrage of contests, sponsorships, street-team bullshit and cute pictures of good-looking band members with complicated hairdos and flawless skin.
I made it to: the end of Track 1

Billy Talent (Mississauga, Ontario, Canada)
II
If you ever thought the lead singer from Dream Theater should start a hardcore band and scream a lot more, Billy Talent is the band for you.
I made it to: 2:30 into Track 1