Soul Sights Sound Bytes
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Maroon 5, The Point Of No Return
I have always had a special bond with Maroon 5’s debut album, Songs About Jane. This was a record I discovered without any peer recommendations. I had never heard it on the radio or seen it in spiraling towers of promoted CDs inside music stores.
I was in a music megastore in Dubai. As any teenager who didn’t have regular access to such a variety of media in one place, I embraced this candyland with gusto. During my four hours of browsing and previewing music, I came upon Songs About Jane in the alt-rock section. The songs I previewed were ‘Shiver’, ‘Sunday Morning’, and ‘Tangled’, and I loved each one of them. I loved that the vocal harmonies on ‘Shiver’ sounded like a mop of uncombed hair- haphazard, edgy, yet bearing a identifiable style. I loved Adam Levine’s breathless intonation on ‘Tangled’; not quite the gasping falsetto of Matt Bellamy but rather like sweaty fatigue on a hot summer’s day. Most of all, I loved that Maroon 5’s combination of wah-wah guitars, creative harmonies, and generous use of pianos and organs made me feel like I was listening to music through a sepia filter.
In that moment of realization, the name Maroon 5 suddenly made a lot of sense.
At no point did Maroon 5 feel overexposed. The lyrical subtlety on ‘Must Get Out’ was an example of how even break-up cliches, when combined with solid poetic metaphors, can avoid being cringe-worthy.
“Fumbling through your dresser drawer
Forgot what I was looking for
Try to guide me in the right direction”
Whether in naming their new album Overexposed Maroon 5 are attempting irony, I do not know. But overexposed is definitely the right adjective to attach to this album. I quite liked Allison Stewart’s punny description of it in the Washington Post: “a hit-seeking missile’. This missile seems poorly designed and hastily engineered. As if ‘Payphone’ wasn’t bad enough, song after song on Overexposed resembles a glitter-festooned, teeny bop party full with sounds that batter their eyelashes at radio airtime. To their credit, no stone in the process is left unturned. The 128 bpm, 4 by 4 beats, pulsing synth bass lines, melodic hooks, and guest appearances by other artists- all staples of a contemporary pop record- are all there. The track ‘Wipe Your Eyes’ even features a sample from Amadou & Mariam’s ‘Sabali’ a la Nas and Damian Marley’s ‘Patience’. There is a terrible piano-ballad thrown in for good measure as well. Quite hilariously, it is called ‘Sad’. I suppose Maroon 5 don’t want to leave anything to the listener’s imagination anymore.
Unlike Coldplay, Maroon 5 have left behind their rock roots, jumped onto the star-power jetpack of Adam Levine, and made it their mission to be the sound that plays on repeat in frat houses. I don’t doubt their professional integrity as musicians. I simply feel let down as a fan who liked them for their unique sound on Songs About Jane. In Overexposed, Maroon 5 may have reached a point of no return. Like a drug hit, pop success will give them an immediate high. Adam Levine’s public presence and their new sound will ensure that. However, like a drug hit, the aftermath will feel like an inescapable low. After all, the tragedy of pop music is that a lot of it becomes irrelevant in no time. Whether you’re an established pop superstar or a one-hit wonder, your music and its popularity is determined by the whims of the market.
And while fans make the market, the market does not resemble fans. I miss you, Maroon 5.
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Re-reviewing Fox’s New Girl
About a month ago, I posted my first impression of Fox’s latest gloss-loaded sitcom, New Girl. If you did read that review, you will see that I was fairly optimistic. I was looking forward to how the show developed its promising characters. I was also hoping that the writers wouldn’t get caught up in Zooey Deschanel’s ‘i-pretend-to-be-goofy-even-though-i’m-conventionally-attractive’ slapstick. Yes, her quirky character, Jess, is the protagonist of the show but read on and I shall elaborate upon how her performance lets me down.
First, however, let us take a look at some housekeeping issues. The use of the token black guy is an age old Hollywood habit. New Girl took the concept and shot itself in the proverbial foot. A post-pilot casting change saw one token black guy (Damon Wayans Jr playing Coach) being replaced by another (Lamorne Morris as Winston).
Now I understand that the writers wish to keep the show culturally diverse (barely!) but the switchover from Wayans to Morris was tacky and extremely unimaginative. Both their characters are scripted to be the same person. They are both athletic, loud, aggressive, in-your-face, African-American stereotypes. And that is probably why the tokenness of that particular role in the sitcom jumped out at me.Next, let us take a look at Deschanel’s severely undercooked, cringe-worthy act as Jess. Let us not kid ourselves- this girl is hot. She has all the physical features that our culture associates with attractive people. She is a human being fit for celluloid consumption. Yet, the writers throw in a bad haircut and a pair of glasses, and hope to convince us that she is naught but a socially aloof weirdo. Epic fail. She claims to be sexually inhibited yet prepares to bare her body in front of her roommate without a second thought. She has very poor aesthetic judgement yet it requires just a cutscene for her to present herself as drop-dead gorgeous.
I understand that writers need to tap into the physical attractiveness of their actors in order to attract eyeballs (think back to Rachel Green on Friends), but Jess’ personality can never be convincing as long as they treat her as Zooey dressed up as a hipster on Halloween!New Girl was a big disappointment. I have never been a fan of Deschanel’s wide-eyed, monotoned attempts at acting (100 Days of Summer would have been revolting had it not been for the earnest performance by Joseph Gordon-Levitt). Yet, I was hoping that Fox’s writers would back this mannequin act with some serious sitcom substance. Then again, as my friend pointed out to me, when was the last time Fox had a good sitcom?
New Girl is 4 episodes in. I’m pretty sure I’m not going to watch another episode.
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Fall 2011 Shows
The annual autumn surge of small screen candy has finally hit us. There were 3 shows I was particularly looking forward to. Here’s a quick retrospective inquiry into each of them.
New Girl (Fox)
Zooey Deschanel has a celebrity persona that treads the line between Hollywood-somebody and YouTube sensation. The writers of New Girl seem to be struggling to deal with this pseudo-stardom. While the premise of the show is typical, the left-of-center aura of each of the characters is endearing. Yes, they are derivative caricatures that we often encounter in sitcoms, but there is a tilt in the conventional power structure that makes the show intriguing.
The protagonist, Jess, is the type of person who usually sits on the armrest of the sitcom sofa. She is 21st century reincarnation of Phoebe Buffet, except this time she has a lot more lines and is the center of attention of all the other characters. I would like to see the writers round her into a more realistic character and accordingly develop the plot. Oh and it would also be super if they stopped plugging all of their jokes in their promos.
Verdict: Meh, but I’ll wait to see where it goes.
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Pan Am (ABC)
If you’re like me and miss Mad Men, watch Pan Am until they bring Don Draper and the AMC series back. Like Mad Men, Pan Am brings the American 60s to TV in all its gloss and glory. However, while Mad Men indulged in gloss as well script, Pan Am doesn’t bother with the latter. It simply exists to be your guilty pleasure- a tremendous visual spectacle that requires very little emotional cognizance.
Verdict: Only if I come across it while channel-surfing.
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How To Be A Gentleman (CBS)
Johnny Drama is back! As an Entourage fan, I watched the season finale with a heavy heart. But just like his character in Entourage, Kevin Dillon has picked up a sorry sitcome on CBS that just takes the farcical elements of Johnny Drama and rounds them up under a new name. Complete with canned laughter, predictable one-liners, and classic sitcom characters (anxious boss, bossy sister, hot neighbor, oddball gentleman), How To Be A Gentleman tries to hold on to a kind of television comedy that has been rendered redundant by the smashing successes of Modern Family and Community.
However, as it is CBS, I shall persist with this show for two reasons: one, their sitcoms usually start off slowly until the writers find good direction and create fantastic plots (just think back to early season of How I Met Your Mother and The Big Bang Theory), and two, Kevin Dillon is clearly in his element playing the air-headed, muscle-laden fool. He is consistently funny.
Verdict: Will watch the first season. Can’t promise what happens after that.
