This was a really nice surprise -- a merry chunk of British jangle pop, an assortment of short and to the point songs about life, lunacy, and growing up. It's an excellent album indeed, from the opening "Mona Lisa" to the closing "Bullfighter's Disco" (a bonus track that sounds exactly the way it's titled -- Spanish guitar meets a 4/4 backbeat and declared a draw). Musically, the album is played very well indeed, and kept very simple -- no over-complex mixes here; rather, it sounds almost as though it was done quick and ...
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This was a really nice surprise -- a merry chunk of British jangle pop, an assortment of short and to the point songs about life, lunacy, and growing up. It's an excellent album indeed, from the opening "Mona Lisa" to the closing "Bullfighter's Disco" (a bonus track that sounds exactly the way it's titled -- Spanish guitar meets a 4/4 backbeat and declared a draw). Musically, the album is played very well indeed, and kept very simple -- no over-complex mixes here; rather, it sounds almost as though it was done quick and dirty to catch the energy. There are almost no pauses between the numbers, and some of the songs themselves seem close to incomplete -- "Book of Love" has almost no lyric and is an excuse for instrumental entertainment more than anything else, it seems, but the instrumental performance carries it very well, especially because the Jack Rubies boast a rather inventive percussionist whose rhythmic inspiration livens the rhythm tracks up considerably. Vocalist/guitarist Ian Wright comes across in the way that Morrissey might if Morrissey hadn't wound up a pompous twit. For the more song-oriented, you have pop-informed rock & roll gems like "Baby Fire" and "Crazy Letter" -- adolescent crushes and anguish are always close. There's heartbreak in "I Saw the Glory," which leaves the narrator crawling on his kitchen floor in misery, and deviltry in the desert in "Tijuana Bible." The Jack Rubies have absorbed elements from everything from ZZ Top to Oingo Boingo, crossing them with concise melodies and bright nuances. It's a delightfully listenable album with nary a step wrong -- some fine-tuning on the songs, and a stronger mix on "Tijuana Bible" (which deserves to be a monster) would have improved an already good album. But those are minor quibbles. If you need an excuse to enjoy yourself, dance around the room, or just have a light rock-out without getting too overloaded on guitar crunch, See the Money in My Smile is perfect. The Jack Rubies had all the potential in the world to be as sharp as Elvis Costello, as fun as Madness, and as original and entertaining as all get out on their own behalf. ~ Steven McDonald, Rovi
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Add this copy of See the Money in My Smile to cart. $12.52, good condition, Sold by Prime Goods Outlet rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Troy, OH, UNITED STATES, published 1990 by TVT.
