at a glance...

Hometown: San Francisco, CA
Formed: 1991

Members:
Scott Miller -vocals, guitars
Jonathan Segel -violin, slide guitar, bouzouki/cittern
Alison Faith Levy -keyboards, vocals, flute and cello
Gil Ray -drums, percussion

Bands in the family :
Game Theory, Actionslacks

It's difficult to tell whether this record wants to build sense out of nonsense, or vice versa. Whichever way you look at it, Days for Days is a fun puzzle to play with.

On the one hand, there's a sleeve decorated with beans, apparently apropos of nothing at all. There's a track sequencing which places the songs on the even numbers between 2-18. There are song titles like "Cortex the Killer" (a song which has about as much in common with Neil Young as it does with Neil Diamond) and "Why We Don't Live in Mauritania." And the lyrics are so barking mad at points that guitarist/vocalist Scott Miller sounds like he's arguing with himself.

Perhaps the arty/wacky factor would be unbearable if The Loud Family didn't have a such a refreshing grasp of pop dynamics. Everything here surges with melody, especially "Cortex," "Crypto-Sicko" and the crunchy "Deee-Pression." And while they're not afraid to work piano, flutes, backward guitars and high vocal harmonies into the mix, the arrangements are never crowded. That a multi-faceted opus like "Good, There Are No Lions In The Street" still sounds like effortless, simple pop is the mark of truly deft songwriting. It's this touch that allows you not only to forgive, but to enjoy, the eccentricities of Days for Days.

If you like The Loud Family, check out:
The Loud Family Attractive Nuisance
They Might Be Giants Lincoln
Michael Penn March
The Beatles The Beatles

-- jf