The Backstreet Boys. N'Sync. 98 Degrees. LFO. Some of the worst bands that have ever been forced upon the world. And what do they all have in common? They're good-looking Americans. Good-looking, dumb Americans. In such a time of need, who will free us from this prison we have created? Ugly British people. And, if the Bevis Frond's latest offering, Live at the Great American Music Hall, is any indication, judgment day is close at hand.
Nick Saloman (aka the Bevis Frond), whose other credits include founder of Woronzow Records and the Ptolemaic Terrascope zine, is about as close to indie heaven as you can get-- one-man lo-fi pop music made by an actual Englishman. (Bob Pollard can try all he wants to nail that fake-ass British accent, but at the end of the day he's still a drunken hick). Flydaddy Records' website claims that Nick Saloman has been called "the finest electric guitarist working anywhere right now." And while that statement is of the same typically overblown nature of most bands' press releases, I'd probably have to agree with that. While Lenny Kravitz wastes his precious career spewing riffs straight out of "Pentatonic Scales for Chronic Masturbators," Saloman constructs flowing, melodic guitar solos that rival those of Guided by Voices/ Gem/ Cobra Verde guitarist Doug Gillard.
Whereas the Frond's two most recent LPs, Vavona Burr and North Circular, have showcased Saloman's ability to write brilliant hook-driven pop songs, Live at the Great American Music Hall showcases the band's bluesier side. Sure, the material on this album lacks the catchiness of other Frond recordings, but Saloman's immensely talented touring band creates an energy and immediacy that is virtually nonexistent on studio outings. See, Saloman is perfectly competent as a bassist and drummer, but the rhythm section on Live-- consisting of Andy Ward on drums and Adrian Shaw on bass-- gives this record a more cohesive sound than any of the Bevis Frond's other albums.
Which brings us back to our original topic: ugly British people. We live in a world where Britney Spears' left tit gets more publicity than every deserving indie act combined. We are living in a world where LFO can sell millions of copies of an album that rhymes "Hornets" with "Sonnets." Our country is a fucking joke. And as the great ugly British man Winston Churchill once said: "We have not journeyed across the centuries, across the oceans, across the mountains, across the prairies because we are made of sugar candy."
