As usual when i review Cowboy Mouth, i'm confessing
up front that i've known Fred since 1986, when i saw him sing "Jennie Says"
for the first time in public (as drummer in Dash Rip Rock, who you also ought
check out).
When Fred formed the Mouth, i was Right There -- this is an INCREDIBLE live
band, and no CD has yet succeeded in capturing all of their power and drive...
but all of their albums are worth owning.
As their major label debut, it was obligatory to put "Jennie" on this album,
it's third waxing that i can recall (on DRR's "Ace of Clubs", on CM's indie
debut, "Word of Mouth" and here) -- it's still a painfully well-drawn portrait
of Fred's time with a girl friend who didn't understand anything about him.
Also making a second appearance (previously on their third indie, "It Means
Escape") "How Do You Tell Someone" is a somewhat-different take on trying
to End It.
"The Love of My Life", yet another love-gone-wrong song, is about the last
stages of a relationship with a woman who has become so intensely self-centered
that "... she's not the love of my life anymore ..."
The fourth really outstanding song on this one is rhythm guitarist Paul Sanchez's
"Laughable", a bouncy ballad of indecision and self-disgust. |
