New Music: Juliana Hatfield - Made In China
Juliana Hatfield
Album: Made In China
January 2006 purchase
I have been on a 'girl rock sound' kick lately and I was inspired to purchase Hatfield's latest record. She is still alive and well and making albums at the rip ole age of 38. I was pleased to find hear that her sound is still that raw, sloppy, teenage ranting that I grew to love in her other album I own: Juliana's Pony: Total System Failure.
This record is simple, unpolished, and - at times - hard to listen to. This album is laid-back overall, not quite as in-your-face as some of her past work. The tone is really set with the somber opening track "New Waif".
There's something about a hot woman musician just throwing out an f-bomb casually in a song, it's sexy. Hatfield has always been about personifying the ugly side of humanity, instead of trying to hide it. The track I am referring to here is "What Do I Care?" - which I can logically attribute to the record title "Made In China" - since the phrase appears in the chorus.
Hatfield also has another quality in her music. Listening makes you feel a little younger. Like you are back in high school, not thinking about consequences of raw emaotional outbursts. It's not immature really. Just a little more wreckless. And fun. Tracks like "Stay Awake", and "My Pet Lion" capture this well.
Overall I give this record about a 7.9 out 10.
Creative props for staying down to earth and real, but the records suffers from not enough "hooks" to keep you wanting more.
posted by rhinosaur at 1:23:00 PM
1 Comments:
I too have been enjoying the girl rock thing for awhile now. Of note, I really enjoy the female vocals from the new band Flyleaf (which was a monthly purchase a little while back). Bonus...she is pretty nice to look at as well.
Rhino, after perusing your review and listening to the CD 4 times today, I am ready to make some comments. I agree completely with your take that the album is simple and unpolished, but I hesitate to add "hard to listen to." I am not sure where this comment is based so I won't over analyze it right now.
I am also in agreement about the hot chick throwing out the f-bomb casually and the album having that high school nostalgia.
In fact, that nostalgia is what I like most about the album. It brings me back to a time when I didn't care what the perception of my outbursts would be. When I didn't overly calculate my response, but instead just let it fly. Specifically, it reminds me of afternoons and evening out on Mimi's porch yelling things like "don't make me...FUCK YOU!"
Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, now I have a better understanding of how I should act, what I should say, what is appropriate and what is not, and sometimes I just want to say screw it. This album, in its own little way, helps me vicariously live like that once again...if only for a few tracks. It is, as you said rhino, a little more "reckless and fun."
From a music standpoint, the album does suffer from over simplification. Yes, it could use a few more "hooks." But at the same time, the fact that it is not overly produced and could easily be that girl from high school who sat a few rows in front of you, with her black hair, dark eye makeup and doc martins. I can picture this girl sitting in the back of some old blue Mazda pick up truck, after dark, in a poorly lit park called "midnight" just singing with her guitar. Cigarette in hand.
She is definitely keeping things down to earth and showing off the ugly side of humanity. "Save your self" she sings over and over again at the end of the album.
OVERALL I give this album a 7.8 out of 10. It would be higher, but I think her last album captured all of the above mentioned things better. The last album was also a little darker from a humor standpoint.
3:37 PM
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