Bill Powers is back behind the microphone, but he's pulling in the reins and not letting everything go. The restraint pays off, as a pop effervescence is exuded -- strong enough to bring pop punk and emo fans into a room together to be friends. "I Hate Your Whining!" meets "Stop Bouncing All Over the Place!" And there's peace.
The instrumentation has groovy tones, mixing rawness and jamming with tight, snappy grooves. "Versatile Solutions" and "You Know Who You Are" show a subtle tipping of the musical hat to swinging western Americana with a punk rock swagger. One can feel the subversive energy surging underneath the sound a la Fugazi, only bursting out in measured increments. One necessary ingredient for true punk is the attitude of the lyrics, and Blenderhead brings it. The sly, sneering (but never mean) vocals drip wit with the sensitivity of a sumo wrestler trying to ballet dance. It's never awkward, but it's as blunt as a heavy object smashing on the floor.
"Is being the indie queen all you hoped for? Does it mean a lot when they drop your name or wave you through at the door . . . you'll have to climb real high to get over yourself..." ("Emerald City Indie Queen")
"Didn't go down like you thought it would . . . Now you feel like a hypocrite / Got a taste of your own medicine / You said you'd never be a part of this, but now you act like you thought of it." ("Versatile Solutions For Modern Living")
And then there's the bitter pill: "When I look back on how I've grown, I'm so much better on my own . . . I wish you'd never talked to me, or smiled at me . . . I'll never love you again/It's just as well / I didn't steal your car, but I wish I had." ("I Gave Her My Heart, She Gave Me A Pen")
Like the aforementioned song title, the music is major chord happy punk, even as it levels serious blows, like: "She was a siren, leading me off to hell." Yowza! Power's wearing it on his sleeve. Imagine King David writing his psalms while going through his teenage years -- honesty flying through the fan like a temporal emotional snapshot -- not offering trite resolution, but telling it like it feels. The music keeps the feelings in check, it seems, reeling in the energy with upbeat chugging and quirky, unexpected twists and turns -- courtesy guitarists Ed Carrigan and Tyler Vander Ploeg, drummer Matt Johnson, and Bill Powers on bass. Chaotic popcore. It's lovely, lively, and infectious.
Other coverage for this album
Decapolis 2001Reviewed by Brett MiottiFigureheads On The Forefront Of Pop Culture combines elements of Blenderhead's previous releases, yet has its own identity in many ways. The guitar tones are more ear pleasing on this record and accomplish some interesting interplay between them. The first track, "I Gave Her My Heart She Gave Me A Pen," kicks off the disc with Bill Power reflecting on failed relationship. The song seems to keep…Art for the Ears 2001Reviewed by Marco PovervestFinally Blenderhead has a new album out. Figureheads On The Forefront Of Popculture contains twelve punkpop songs with the fragile yelling sound of Bill Power. The music is not that high-energy, full speed ahead type-of punk you can hear from so many other bands. What you rather hear is indie punk rock with nice sound textures like in the song Versatile Solutions For Modern Living. There's some…The Phantom Tollbooth 2000Reviewed by Michial FarmerBlenderhead is a remnant from the so-called "glory days" of Tooth & Nail Records--those pre-Swing Praise years when you could count on any album released by the label to be of high quality. Without turning this review into a wistful nostalgia piece, I will say that those days are long gone. Fortunately for tasteful listeners everywhere, T&N still releases a lot of great records, and the new…Similar sounding releases
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