HOLE – NOBODY’S
DAUGHTER (MERCURY)
It doesn’t start well. What happened to her voice? Probably the same thing that happened to her
band.
Things pick up as
“Skinny Little Bitch” at least possesses some kind of bite, displaying the
degree of anger that once made this lady extraordinary and this band (as was)
exception. It all still sounds a bit
too slick though.
When I saw the
tracklisting and “Pacific Coast Highway” initially I thought that this was a
smart take on the Sonic Youth song of the same name but instead it would appear
that it is Courtney making a petty gesture to niggle them, to steal the title
of one of their finest moments. These
things just don’t quit.
A strange thing
happens as while I listen to the song “Honey” I find myself beginning to sing “On
Your Own” by The Verve. Now this is
something I was not expecting from this album.
This record feels like
the continuation (and indulgence) of her Fleetwood Mac fantasy. Gone are prior moments of punk snap as stock
gestures and big budget production defang and declaw what once was a very
exciting proposition. Far too often the
songs plod, opening with an acoustic introduction that I guess is supposed to
explode into incendiary rock guitar which never really packs a punch. Also there are strings and piano, often a
clear indication of an act turning flat.
The absolute worst moment comes with “Letter To God” which is literally
that, Courtney reading a letter to her maker all done to the intro of Stairway
To Heaven.
As I said a couple of
times there are high tempo tracks such as “Skinny Little Bitch” and “Loser
Dust” that do remind of Celebrity Skin but these moments are too few and far
between.
Lyrically it feels
like a stage, pretend breakdown seemingly designed to hide/cover up the real
one that is occurring. Song titles such
as “How Dirty Girls Get Clean” and the final declaration of defiance “Never Go
Hungry” are indicative of just how try hard it all is.
This is a bad
album. But what did I expect?
Ultimately it is
perhaps a good thing that Kurt never saw the day that this thing came to
exist. With this in mind you begin to
wonder what Frances Bean thinks of it.
Is she ashamed? Is she
embarrassed? Or is she just relieved
that some income is finally coming in and that they can go back to three square
meals a day. In a way you almost
imagine the Frances Bean existence to be that of Saffy from Absolutely Fabulous
these days. Much like this music, it
does not paint a pretty picture.
She brought it all on
herself.
Thesaurus moment:
funnel.
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