Dudes, you just cannot beat this. A brilliant band's entire discography plus a DVD with some pretty funny crap on it for $15? You're thinking to yourself right now: "Self, what's this word on the tip of my tongue?" Allow me to inform you that the word in question is, in fact,"Score." Presented chronologically, it's immensely fun to trace the maturation of the band. With all their material collected here together, it's kind of surprising just how strong a band Chavez were: Gone Glimmering is a fantastic record and Ride The Fader is nothing short of a forgotten indie rock classic. Hopefully, you already know all about the albums and the EP so I won't dwell on those too much after I point out: WHOA! When "Lions" starts up, I thought for sure those Matador boys had been making the reissues for Chavez and Wowee Zowee in the same room and had some sort of accident because it starts off uncannily like "Grounded." Seriously, guys. It's a legit concern.
The DVD is obviously the draw for people who already own both albums (it's still worth it). It's got two hilarious music videos for "Break Up Your Band" and my personal favorite Chavez song "Unreal Is Here." "Break Up Your Band" even has strippers! And "Unreal Is Here" even has The James Lo crying! The DVD's main feature is a sort of tour diary entitled "Boys Making Music... Music Making Men" from the band's Euro tour with Guided By Voices. It's filled with a lot of inside jokes, "something funny just happened turn on the camera" moments, and several sections whose humor hinges merely on James Lo's Asian heritage (such as the panorama of an English convience store's candy section with quick cuts to Lo's, honestly, gorgeous visage). The highlight is undoubtedly the Pot Smokin' Dream Sequence skit the band concocted in which we get a view into each of the members' dreams after a backseat toking session. Bassist Scott Marshall dreams of beautiful scantily clad women before arriving at the final one and panning down to the crotch area to find a little unexpected something. Matt Sweeney dreams of a great gig. James Lo dreams of a computer screen. Clay Tarver dreams of actually being able to go to sleep. Tour Manager Kriss dreams of the men of Chavez in leopard print briefs holding hands in the back of the van.
As great as it is, the true gem is the commentary track by Scott Marshall's father, Garry, who directed Happy Days and Pretty Woman. Wow... WHAT. Simply, it must be heard to be understood. It's more narration meets indictment of Scott for being a bad son than commentary. There are also a few jabs at "intellectual" Clay, who did indeed attend Harvard. I'm not even going to waste time trying to describe it. Just know it's brilliant and worth about double whatever you're paying for this set on its own.
The liner notes are lavish here. TWO booklets! But they raise a lot of questions. The opening statement by Matador honchos Lombardi and Cosloy for example. They call these two albums "the best two albums this label ever released" which, while the Chavez albums are completely fantastic, is an honor most (including myself) would award the first two albums by a little band called Pavement. They even say that Chavez was the label's best seller of the 90's. So, let's look at some evidence presented by (using process of elimination powers!) Clay in the form of the tour diary for the American tour in support of Ride The Fader. I would presume this period to be the height of the band's popularity but Mr. Tarver writes of playing to massive crowds numbering the tens of people. I'm to believe they sold more albums than a band that was touring with Lollapalooza mere months earlier? He also says San Antonio is not known for it's musical taste (I lived there and it's true) and that they played at Emo's while in the city (I can almost see Emo's from where I sit right now and I ain't in SA). So who even knows. Also included is the label's marketing plan for the band, which is honestly far more complex than anything I'd ever imagined being thought out for an indie band. Alas, who even knows if anything in the liners is serious as the videos definitely show a band with its fingers firmly on "The Pulse" of "The Funny." Ultimately, this set is just a fantastic document of a band too often overlooked.
