that dog.
Totally Crushed Out! (CBS Associated 44173)

I have always wanted to like that dog., yet I am never able to enjoy the music. Even now, as I struggle vainly against my sounder editorial instincts to correct the annoying spelling of their name, I still want to like them. Why can't I like them? What's wrong with me?

Maybe it's their own fault. This album, with its hilarious cover art and smart song titles ("He's Kissing Christian," "Michael Jordan"), has been a crush of mine for quite some time. I always look at it, pick it up, almost buy it, then never do. Well, now after actually hearing it I am reminded why crushes should almost always remain passive.

Anna Waronker writes almost-great pop songs that get bogged down in angular trappings a la Veruca Salt. I just don't understand why these kids are so afraid of straight-ahead major chords. And I must say that none of these songs really deliver ("Ms. Wrong" comes close). "Michael Jordan" is a big disappointment … such a great title, and even a great joke (the only lyrics are "Why does he give up so easily?"), but the music is arbitrary and uninteresting.

I love so many things about this album: the idea of an album-length meditation on crushes. The presence of Charlie Haden's twin daughters. That early-'90s jagged girl pop sound I'm a sucker for. Brilliant art design. It's a shame I don't dig the music at all. Music is the downfall of way too many albums these days.

Loud Bassoon rating scale

Review by Patricia O'Cummington