Lotion: Classic or Dud?

They have some good songs here and there, I think my favorite was "Around" from the first album. Then again, I do love good string arrangements (and from Rasputina, no less). Most underrated American guitar band of the decade, though? The Veldt, I have to say. Lotion in comparison just strike me as pleasant rather than gripping.

Thanks James: been trying to recall this name since my Who-Lists-the- Listers invocation of old Tom P.

Best my pore memory could manage on its own: Liniment.

Yes. Classic classic classic. My "gateway" band into indie-pop via the Pynchon connection. Mr. Mod and I are lotion completists -- singles, rare tracks, and all. Shame that they seem to have disappeared lately. All three albums are masterworks, and each is unique unto itself. Full Isaac is dense and driving -- not a huge leap from the rest of the scene of that era, but miles ahead in sound quality and songcraft. "Head" and "Tear" are two of the best guitar-drenched rock singles ever. Sonic layering almost like MBV. The Agnew Funeral EP is distinguished by the smashing cover of "Walk Away Renee" (which introduced me to The Left Banke) that tops even their reverent and souped-up take on "Fly Me To The Moon". Nobody's Cool is in some ways their most fleshed out artistic statement -- epic in scope, writing a new history of pop -- beach boys to new wave via shoegazer. "Sandra" "Switch" "Rock Chick" and "The Sad Part" are perfect songs. "Dalmacia 007" is Ozzy on morphine. "Precious Tiny" contains the most elegant balls-to-the-wall guitar solo ever recorded. Yes. On to their final album, "The Telephone Album". Dropped the rock in favor of way overproduced power-pop pastiche. The hooks are better than ever, and I probably don't even have the proper reference points to describe this album. Weird noises and guitar runs zooming and bending everywhere. Would have made the perfect soundtrack to a mid-period Steve Martin movie -- before he lost his truly zany edge, but after he started to inject some real emotion into his roles. Search: everything you can get your hands on.

Speaking of completeisim, I'm looking for anything and everything put out by this band, esp the 7"... so if you have anything you want to move, get in touch with me.

I was suppoused to go see them at Brownies in NYC, but it was 21 and over and I couldn't convince the bartender to give me a wristband or something. So I never got to see them live.

Sonic layering comparable to MBV? I'll give it a listen again, Sterling, but that's a comparison that does not spring to mind at all. Curious.

smooth on the hands baby! classic

wasn't kurt ralske, elfin supremo of ultra vivid scene, somehow involved with lotion? i heard them once & recall being deeply underwhelmed.

Yep. He produced their first album -- Full Isaac. Better than UVS if you ask me.

Okay, *now* we utterly differ, Sterling. ;-) The day Lotion wrote something to even slightly touch a song like "The Mercy Seat" has yet to occur.

Unfair, Ned. Lotion don't arouse passions -- they soothe and contemplate them. And, besides, about half the tracks from The Telephone Album ("Mr. Mosquito" "Glorified" "5th Fret..." and "Feedback Queen" for example) move me just about as much as anything.

they're great. the band i smart enough to write beatufully constructed "pop" songs that are introspective, contemplative and melancholy (at times) that don't seem llike "pop" songs. growing up in neworleans, HEAD got played like five times on the radio when i was but when i saw it in a store two years later, it immediatedly became an album i don't wanne be without. each album grows on you until the point when you think each albumis your favorite one.