Upon first look at The Doleful Lions' newest CD, one starts to think about the possibilities of a band called "The Doleful Lions" on the Parasol Records label. Maybe this band is something like Hum? Maybe Braid? Emo? Space rock? These are conventions that have gotten tired, definitely. Actually, when hearing the actual record, listeners are pleasantly surprised.
Although its not an opus, the title track to The Rats Are Coming! The Werewolves Are Here is pretty good. The track, the fifth on the CD, starts off with some sort of liquid poured out of something. Then the singer and drummer come in with one of the prettiest, most hearfelt songs heard in a while. A minute into it, the full band starts. Sure, it's not as pretty as Archer Prewitt or as witty as Beck, but it's nice. For once, this is something from the so-called "fruitful" Urbana, Ill., label that's good.
This record, though not a candidate for album of the year by any means, is good. The band sounds most like Superchunk and other bands from Chapel Hill, N.C. The Doleful Lions show up their first full-length CD by giving more of the same Superchunk-esque vocals coupled with Hum-like textures that is best summed up as a sort of sick love child of Mac McCaughan, Stephen Merrit and Bill Callahan. The lyrics sound whiny, but for some reason, many of them ring true. The drum machines sound silly, but they work. The guitar parts are similar, but they resonate just the same.
Like Superchunk's later releases, this album works, quite frankly, because it is felt. It was an upbeat, if not somewhat bouncy, record that drops off by the end and sometimes sounds too much like a high-school band. But the first five tracks really feel nice. They sound good and feel true.
For example, the use of Ronald Reagan, Martin Luther King, Jr., John F. Kennedy and George Wallace samples on "Airline Histories" is a lyrical tool that works. It's a flat concept (seen on R.E.M.'s "Electrolite" and every Barenaked Ladies song) to use the name of a famous person in a simple context. But the band pulls it off. It seems like the names have meaning to them as those of fallen idols who are gone but not forgotten.
The songs that stands out the most on The Rats Are Coming! ... is "Ocean Stars." It is a sort of love letter to a woman that is gone now. The tilting melody swirls, and the whole band doesn't rock; it shakes. The romanticism just oozes out of the speakers as Jonathan Scott croons: "I don't feel at all nostalgic for the place that I call home. I never had, but that's not tragic." He doesn't use his voice as a storyteller; he uses it as an instrument.
Like a long car ride that is relaxing on the onset but trudges on too long, this album gets tired after the first half. The band seems to sound more and more like a bad group of high schoolers trying to emulate Smashing Pumpkins' distorted guitars, pounding drums and whining vocals. The last song isn't bad, but the second, third and fifth tracks are the gems. Sticking with those when listening to this record will keep it a fine experience.
- Ross Gianfortune
