The Sixths - Hyaciths and Thistles
(Merge)
Do-no-wrong Stephin Merritt turns in one of his worst offerings with The
Sixths' second full length Hyacinths and Thistles. In this side project,
Merritt writes the music and lyrics to songs and invites guest musicians
to provide the vocals. The first offering, Wasps' Nests, was stellar,
a who's who of indie rock (circa 1995) with everyone from Georgia Hubley
to Lou Barlow to Mac McCaughan to Dean Warham, almost all providing strong,
very intimate vocal recordings. For this release, it is more of a who was, a
who's not, and a who's that.
The low point may be the track featuring pop star Melanie, no not one of
the two Spice Girls but rather 60s/70s pop relic Melanie. Her vocals on
this track are an insult, showing total inability to match and flow with
the music. Merritt was probably giddy to work with her, but this track is just
awkward. Merritt also seems to have a lesser presence in the recording of
some of the songs, as seen here as the only instrument
backing Melanie's vocals are toy piano provided by another musician. Wasps'
Nests felt like artists touring through New York stopped by Merritt's studio
to throw down a track, but here Merritt is far more removed, like a bystander,
sometimes only really filling the role of songwriter.
Musically, Hyacinths and Thistles closely resembles 69 Love Songs, as Merritt
moves further and further from being just a new wave keyboard artist. There
are a few piano ballads, a few songs with strings; most of the music here is
very minimal, concentrating more on the vocalists, further removing
Merritt from the equation.
There are a couple of great songs and singing performances though, and, as
always, Merritt's lyrics are ingenious. Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy
much resembles Merritt's baritone while singing "The Dead Only Quickly,"
turning in a sold performance to a clever, humorous song ("They don't
go about ... rising and falling like soufflé. The dead only quickly
decay."). Katharine Whalen of Squirrel Nut Zippers also does a fine job
on "You You You You You" backed only by an acoustic guitar but still creating
a full sound with her rich voice, delivering a very rosy love song.
Much of the rest of the album is just a disappointment though, perhaps because
it had little chance of standing up well against Wasps' Nests.
Bob Mould, Momus, and Gary Numan? Get Sam Prekop, Stuart Murdoch,
Jeff Mangum, Sammy Hagar, Robert Schneider, Will Oldham, Barbara Streisand, etc.,
and then maybe you have something equally as special.
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