This entry was posted on 7/26/2006 11:04 PM and is filed under uncategorized.
7/27/06: The Pursuit of Happiness:
Where’s The Bone (1995)Religious rocker Steve Taylor was in Manhattan for what he dubbed “Be Nice To Christians Week.” At one point during our interview, he asked if my girlfriend shared my beliefs. I explained that she was a pagan who’d been out the previous night dancing naked in the moonlight.
Taylor gave that some thought. “Well,” he said, “it’s a tough town to date in.”
Moe Berg would’ve said the same about Toronto. The Canadian songwriter may not be a Christian, but his work with
The Pursuit of Happiness often dealt with dating intolerant Leftists.
Where’s The Bone is the band’s fourth album and defining moment. It remains Berg’s most caustic account of enduring progressive dames.
The album starts with “Kalendar,” as Berg takes a snapshot of oblivious youth. That’s followed by “Save The Whales,” where Berg sounds almost wistful while casting the romantic ruins. “You blew smoke rings while you lectured me on the lungs of the world,” he recalls of an ex’s “evil little mind.” He also notes that her only science is poly-science.
Then we get “White Man” as a mocking celebration that’d be approved by any Women’s Studies professor. “Young and In Love” examines the enlightened groupies bred from
Sassy and
SPIN: “She took off her shirt on VHS/So he could watch it on the bus when he gets depressed.” “No Reason” and “Blowing Bubbles” each scorn '90s daytime talk shows while praising personal responsibility.
And we're reminded that TPOH is freed of an American record deal for the first time since 1988. “Falling In” is a sharp remembrance of a night south of the border: “A room full of hipsters making me homesick/They’re all so learned and heterophobic.”
I’m leaving out a few songs, but every one of them is splendidly incisive—except for the rocking tribute to Wayne Gretzky.
Berg wasn’t finished yet. The final TPOH album—
The Wonderful World Of…—would close with him detailing “The Truth.” Still,
Where’s The Bone is the sound of a man realizing that his potential audience never grew up with him. All the harder since Berg got his start with a single called “I’m An Adult Now.”
Make it your own: Copies of
Where’s The Bone can be found fairly cheap for an import. There’s also
a recent Canadian compilation with new songs, but it’s cheaper to collect the band’s early U.S. albums—
Love Junk,
One-Sided Story, and
The Downward Road. All will be discussed in the future, along with
The Wonderful World Of…
