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Playgroup
Music nerds need to have fun some times. Unfortunately I think thoseare the only people who would find entertainment in the "irony" of thisrelease. No, this isn't a brand new full-length from the long-forgottenkickass On-U Sound dub band Playgroup from the 1980s (despite the onetrack which experiments with instrumental dub), it's the project byTrevor Jackson, owner of Output Records and former remix artist knownas Underdog. If there's anything to express on this recording, it's thefacts that #1: he's either got a ton of money or a lot of productionskills and connections and #2: he's a rather dull writer, with mundanelyrics, oversimplified beats and repetitious riffs that wear out theirwelcome 30 seconds into every track. The self-titled debut album isclearly a post-post-disco record: just a few years shy of making asplash. (Note: the trend has clearly moved onto the 1980s-retro, duh!)Months ago, I thought this was a seriously feverish heavy recording,but take my warning, that feeling fades quick. Further listens invarious environments show its limits, as it's really only heavy whenplayed in loud volumes with the bass turned way up. Some times a goodfeel gets going, but out-of-place guitar riffs, saxophones or othersounds almost always seemingly taint any attempt at purity. In manyways I'm reminded of the Malcom McLaren from 20 years ago: a whiteBritish music businessman and producer who regurgitated black cultureand was praised by the white music press and higher-brow music fans,but was never authentic enough to really break down the boundaries thatkept him an "artist" rather than the "superstar" he was shooting to be.Guest vocalists like Kathleen Hanna and Shinehead don't do the albummuch help and the cover of Paul Simon's "18 Ways to Leave Your Lover"is downright painful. I couldn't help but cringe every "yahoo" shout in"Front 2 Back" or each time some tough-acting guy spoke "bounce,""scram," and "uh huh," in between the sung lines of the ghastly PaulSimon cover. Jackson's got a great ear for production, a ton of supportfrom the highest paid music critics, and probably tons of managerstrying to land him TV advertisements, but at the end of the day I canhonestly say that I'm personally embarassed to own this record,nevermind play it around others or in the car with the windows rolleddown.samples:
