Aimee Mann's songs are like crack. The first time you hear them they lodge themselves in your head and simply stick there, playing their choruses over and over. Take Dear John, the first song off of her The Forgotten Arm album. It starts off simply, but then Mann starts singing, moody and low, giving just enough melody and timing to her lines that they arc their way gently into some sort of melody repository in your brain. The chorus hits with its catchy hooks, then another verse, same as the first. The bridge brings up the energy and then an amazing solo that sounds like the guitarist is channeling David Gilmour back when he had an edge. It's an incredible song, and if the rest of the album doesn't immediately live up to those standards (skip the second song - it's a rare misstep), give it another listen. Before you know it you'll wake up humming the chorus of Beautiful, or the first verse of I was Thinking I'd Clean up for Christmas. You'll search out and buy the rest of her albums, indulging in beautiful melancholy and the subtle hooks until any given moment of your life is being performed to the soundtrack of her aching falsetto. Just don't narc on your humble dealer when, weeks later, you find yourself destitute in a back alley, voice cracking as you sing I Can't Get My Head Around It Baby, clad only in a tour T-shirt and lamenting your lost iPod.
I don't think the above overstates how powerfully catchy Mann's songs are. So it was with great expectation that Kelly and I entered the Orpheum for a show in support of The Forgotten Arm. And while the show definatly had its strong points - Dear John as a great opener, Lost in Space, and a few others - I was surprised to find myself a little disappointed in the lack of up tempo tunes. This could be a personal issue, as, having grown up in an era where anything extraordinary was described as "that rocks!", I could be accused of looking for too much of a party in my concerts. But some of the song choices seemed deliberately to bring down the energy level: This is The Way It Goes, King of the Jailhouse (urgh), Deathly... one slow song after another. For some reason, these songs work on album, but not necessarily on stage. This reached its nadir when Mann felt obligated to perform Voices Carry - her big (and only?) hit from Til Tuesday - but as a slow ballad with lots of electric piano. There were two problems with this: 1) one should never feel obligated to play a semi-hit from a previous band/incarnation and 2) it was yet another slow song! I wished that she would have livened it up a bit with some of her more up tempo tunes, but I may have been in the minority, since the crowd appeared to eat up her every move. Which is encouraging - I love Aimee Mann and will continue to buy everything that she produces. But next time I'm bringing come coffee with me to the show.
© Todd Meigs
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