 The Candy Skins I saw these guys open for Squeeze around '91 and they were one of the best opening bands I've ever seen. They took the stage and played the hell out of their surprsingly great material, nearly upstaging a band who has always been one of the best live acts around. For a period of no longer than a year beyond that, the Candy Skins were definitely one of my pet bands, and I always wondered why they never went anywhere. It was one of those situations where you're so impacted by a personal connection that you miss the objectivity needed to see the band for what it is. What the Candy Skins played was tight, letter-perfect three-chord "classic alternative" pop with loads of catchy harmonies and ringy guitars all over the place. They tapped into that ultra-positive wave of music that arose circa 1990 and went away around 1992, and their competent songwriting and musicianship make them almost stereotypical of what you think of when I say "early 90s college rock." A tiny bit noodly, with an affinity for fuzzy wah-wah pedals and big drums, they specialized in an updated 1968 sound (the disc even features a cover of "For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield). Space I'm In contains some real brilliance, like "She Blew Me Away" (assumedly the single), "Submarine Song," "Freedom Bus," and the title track. This was a band that probably had this one album in them (though I think they kept going, for whatever reason), and it failed to take the world by storm. I think the band was more successful in the UK than America, but I'd wonder how they might have fared here with these songs around 1997, since they're almost exactly what Third Eye Blind and Oasis were making huge money with at that time. The singer sounds just like the guy from Third Eye Blind, who sounds just like the guy from Oasis. Britpop fans will no doubt rankle at me lumping all these bands together, but I don't feel so bad. You can have my portion. It's definitely a "first album," with several cuts that don't stick with you very much, but really, this is an album that deserved better. I'd bet that kids will never rediscover these bands from the early 90s, because so much of it just went nowhere, so bands like the Candy Skins are trapped in a vacuum of nostalgia when people like me start revisiting their college tunes. I mean, who's going to get into the Soup Dragons ten years from now? But you could include several cuts off this album in a soundtrack to fill-in-the-blank teen movie aimed at the Dawson's Crowd, and the kids would love it. Surprisingly, it's come around to the point where this stuff doesn't sound so dated. Simple catchy pop that sounds committed and passionate, but doesn't challenge you. I'm sure at the time the band thought they'd made Sgt. Pepper, but in reality this was just what it was – a damn good debut with some smashing songs. Of course I never listen to it anymore, but as I do now, I think back and remember that great opening-slot performance, one of the few times an opening band sold me completely. Oh, our time's up? Thanks, doctor, this early-90s-based therapy program seems to be working. I TOLD you I could listen to this without crying about my college girlfriend. What, next week you want me to tackle Wish by the Cure? Um, I'm not sure I'm ready for THAT unless you can prescribe more medication!
Review by Jacob Ocular-Migraine |