The Strugglers - Done by the Strugglers
(Brightwell)
Sometimes being smart is overrated. Bob Pollard gave up the four-track half a decade ago in order to go to a studio and plan things out smartly, yet when I think of think of Pollard the first thing that comes to mind is the simple vocal "do-do-do-do-do kicker of elves," not some new-fangled arena rock song. Lou Barlow took classical guitar lessons his entire childhood, yet his guitarwork was never the focus of Sebadoh (even when they tried to go commercial), and his best songs used only three or four recycled chords. Sometimes thinking too much and trying too hard just screws everything up.
Of all the people that followed in Pollard and Barlow's lo-fi footsteps, few have made anything worthwhile, let alone with the consistency that those two had at their prime. Brice Bickford, playing under the name The Strugglers, aims to follow in the footsteps of guys like Pollard and Barlow, and he is surprisingly successful. Why is he successful? Perhaps because he seems to know how to pull off not trying hard, sounding effortless and pure instead of forced. The Strugglers debut album, Done by the Strugglers, is uneven and imperfect, but has more than enough charm and 5-cent hooks to carry it over its 10 songs and 30 odd minutes.
"Goodness Gracious" is a Roy Orbison-like pop song, using the song's title as a goofy but irresistible hook. The music is as simple as it gets, just the simplest drum beat and acoustic guitar, but the delivery is impeccable. This is followed immediately by a much darker song, "Taking Off," which is not unlike Will Oldham's I See a Darkness in mood, albeit completely different in arrangement, using string-sounding notes from a broken old keyboard and tinny electric guitar.
"On the Beach" and "Knot in Your Shoestring" highlight a section of fuller band songs in the middle of the album that jangle almost enough to be pop songs. The songs have solid bass sections which have that pleasant, soft rumbling quality to them that often occurs when a four-track recorder mangles a bass guitar. The guitar playing in "On the Beach" is direct and bare bones, but that's all it really takes to support Bickford's endearing warbly voice. "Knot in Your Shoestring" is a silly little metaphor backed by a silly preprogrammed Casio melody, however, much like Pollard and Barlow, once you buy into what the artist is doing, even the missteps have charm for being ridiculous little missteps.
Next to the last song "On the Way to the Grave" is perhaps the highlight of the album. Using just organ, piano, handclaps, and voice, Bickford shows all it takes to make a memorable song is an honest story and a charismatic delivery. "On the way to the grave, most of the time, I was pretty bored" seems like the universal sentiment of slackerdom, but the story behind it is much more personal and warm.
Brice Bickford knows crappy music can also be good music. In fact, the name of his band was supposedly chosen in order to be "bad" in both the traditionally and "Michael Jackson sense" of the word. In Done by the Strugglers, Bickford has made a very crappy album... in the best sense of the word.
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