Everything to Everyone

I've been a big fan of BNL since the pre-release copies of Gordon started circulating. BNL really hit their stride with Stunt. With that album they demonstrated a fully mature band working well together, and have dedicated their time since to writing consistently great songs and taking the occasional odd and worthwhile experiment as well. They offer a little more variety in style on this album, from country to reggae-tinged rock to the fandago-ish "Upside Down", and while it's a great album, it's still impossible to say that any of their albums is their "best", because they are all great.

Kicking off with several "pop" tracks, there's a lot of potential for hit singles. "Celebrity" is a nice sarcastic look at people who take themselves a little to seriously, while "Maybe Katie" is an infectious bit about beauty being in the eye of the beholder. The lead single "Another Postcard" has a polished boy bandish intro, and segues into Ed doing a very reggae delivery of explaining that someone has been sending him anonymous postcards with picture of chimps on them. "Next Time" slows down the pace a bit with a gospel organ and a morose lyrics about relationship failures. Showing their country influence (they are huge country fans), "For You" is an old style country song about struggling to make a relationship work.

Quirkiness is of course a hallmark of the Ladies, and what could be better than a song about how all the problems in the world can be solved by going shopping. "When the going gets rough, shop with somebody tough". Self doubt and self affirmation come to the fore with the remarkable "Testing 1,2,3". Ed notes that the song about suicide "War On Drugs" became extremely hard to introduce after Elliot Smith killed himself, as his situation is closely mirrored in the song. Fans will be thrilled with this, and casual listeners will find plenty to enjoy as well.

Hot Spots: Testing 1 2 3, Upside Down, Maybe Katie, Another Postcard, Second Best