Sometimes, an 'A' for effort just doesn't make sense, and this is one of those times.
After three studio albums and relentless touring, one would think The String Cheese Incident would have found its element by now. But, alas, apparently its still searching. Maybe it should stop and ask for directions, because it has taken such a dramatically wrong turn with "Untying The Not," a consistently boring fourth album that contains only hints of substance.
The String Cheese Incident has been grouped into the herd of jam bands (Disco Biscuits, Widespread Panic) who have achieved most of their success on the road, acquiring a large cult following. Deadheads, those musical nomads, as well as the ones found in the Phish camp, have taken a particular liking to the Incident's music.Its new venture, however, is bound to alienate many of these fans.
The String Cheese Incident,formed in Boulder in 1993, intentionally tried to do something different for this album. They went as far as finding a producer, Recorded with Youth, that had one very specific quality: He didn't have anything in common with the band. The band gives Recorded with Youth a lot of credit for its new sound. Having produced for The Verve and Crowded House, Recorded with Youth has made a record of dreariness for the String Cheese Incident.
Many of the songs on "Untying the Not" are slow, prolonged, and, overall, lacking in enthusiasm. It's even hard, gasp, to imagine jamming to them during a concert. Much of the music itself, especially in the song "Orion's Belt," sounds like elevator music, which is amusing if you parallel that with the fact that Incident's first gigs were playing for patrons of local skiing resorts just before they got on the ski lift.
After being subjected to, at most, the first four songs on the album the question arises: What is the point, and why does one even listen to this? It's perfectly fitting that there is a re-occurring theme of death throughout the record.
The opening song, "Wake Up," was penned by Bill Nershi, one of the vocalists and guitarists of the group. It's about waking up one morning to hear his roommate on the phone contemplating suicide. This song sets the tone for the rest of the album. It sounds like a 45 on the speed of an LP. Not to mention that the lyrics leave a lot to be desired: the entire chorus is "Stand up/ Wake up/ Stand up/ Wake up." While the song's intent may have been good, String Cheese Incident do not pull it off.
And speaking of bad lyrics, "Just Passin' Through," which is also about death, boasts these inspiring lines: "Reach through the sky find a hole in the middle/ Look straight down and see Hell's hot griddle/ Look at the moon with a hey diddle diddle." After listening to this, you realize you're already in "Hell's hot griddle."
The best that "Untying the Not" has to offer is the chorus, and only the chorus, of "Sirens," which is about, surprise, death. It's a revisiting of Garth Brooks' "If Tomorrow Never Comes." The narrator has had a brush with death and he wants to make sure his loved ones know they are loved. And the chorus goes: "I just wanna say I love you/ Make sure you feel it everyday/ Cuz if today had been my last chance/ It's just something I wanted to say." Maybe the members of the String Cheese Incident don't listen to country music, or to any other creative outlet, because the song's message is not very original.
A lack of originality runs rampant throughout "Untying The Not." The intros to many of the songs sound almost identical. Throughout you are bombarded with 80s sound effects, the kind you would imagine hearing on a PBS made-for-school program about stars and galaxies. Then, in addition, it brings in what sounds like the same woman to perform random spoken pieces that don't make any sense.
Another "highlight," if you will, on the album is "Valley of the Jig," a song which should have been named "Valley of the Jug" because hearing it may instill listeners with the strong desire to drink themselves into oblivion. Experimenting with combinations of different music styles can be pretty interesting at times, but in this particular instance, The String Cheese Incident have taken it too far. The finished product is Irish folk music dubbed over a techno drum beat.The image this conjures: An intoxicated leprechaun at Studio 54 -- not a pretty picture.
On "Untying The Not" The String Cheese Incident should have left the not tied, because the only place this album belongs is in the trashcan. It lacks direction and fails to hold listeners' attention, much less their interest. The band has accomplished their goal of creating a different sound, but it's a little too different to like.
Read More
The best albums of 2014
By Noah Zeidman | December 4, 2014Across genres, it has been a pretty great year in music.
Top 10 movies of 2014
December 4, 2014This has been an excellent year for film, offering everything from gripping blockbusters to innovative personal films.
Iggy Azalea is “Reclassified”
December 4, 2014It has become common practice among music artists to repackage their albums in an effort to simultaneously boost single sales and dish out new content by slightly renaming the album or slapping “Deluxe” onto the title.
