Susanna Hoffs "Someday"

 

I honestly don't know where to start.  I have been in love with her since 1984, the debut year for the Bangles.  Best legs in rock and roll.  One of the most recognizable female voices in pop music.  Last year's Bangles album was a triumphant return to form.  Wasn't aware of this new solo effort in any shape or form.  So excited to hear it I pushed it ahead of a half dozen other things already in rotation. 

 

What a letdown...

 

One spin through the meager 31 minutes and I'm stunned by the lameness of the songs.  Her voice is front and center, framed by beautiful orchestration and production, but there's hardly a sharp hook to be found in the ten tunes.  She's got old pal Mitchell Froom (first aware of Froom thirty years ago with Ronnie Montrose' Gamma 3.  He went on to work with Crowded House, Indigo Girls, Los Lobos, Elvis Costello... he actually tinkled the piano riff in "Manic Monday") handling the knobs, and he works his magic with the background, but those songs...wimpy.  Primary co-writer with her is some newbie Nashville-based kid half her age, lucky bastard, and I just don't get it.  It's not just me, apparently, because the record has been out for two months and it hasn't sniffed a sales chart yet.  That may change as NPR has thrown their support to it, probably due to all the favorable press, one calling it "a musical love letter to the 60's" and others declaring it to be the best record of her career.  Not even close.  One of my first notes said "I wonder who convinced her this was a good idea?  Maybe her husband is going to do another Austin Power's movie and make this the soundtrack." 

 

The second run through the record gave me one track that stepped up just a bit...

 

Hey, I can still pick 'em.  Turns out it's the first focus song for the album.  I read an interview with her and she suggested multiple listens to get "the layers" she's intended.  OK.  The third, and final, spin produced one more marginal song that I'll keep.  I just couldn't bear to play it any more. 

If Bon Iver, Best Coast, or The Head & The Heart are in your collection, then you may enjoy "Someday."  Hoffs said her kids turned her on to First Aid Kit.  Oooh, bet they like it better than mom's. 

What's that old adage about a wig on a pig?  You can put a candy coating on a rabbit turd but it's still a rabbit turd...