BABIES SHOULDN'T SMOKE

Cheer-Accident's third release and it is in my opinion the best and most consistent out of their three dissonant, complex alternative rock albums (Dumb Ask and Not A Food being the other two that seem to be loosely related). With this they keep the buzzing guitars (and bass!), that distant echoed snare and varied vocals previously heard on Dumb Ask, and add a new darker dimension to it. Phil Bonnet also joined on guitar so there's a fuller sound.

Right from the get go you're pushed into some strange house where some deeply stressed people live. Alot of instrumental sections are like going into one's bottled up anger, mental illness or nausea but often doesn't sound thrashy or desperate, just kind of demented. This album is not without humour though, oh no, this is Cheer-Accident we're talking about! 'The Butterfly Effect' starts out with a funny answering machine message and the guy talking at the start of 'Flies In The Amber' always cracks me up. Neither is this album devoid of "pop" too, you've got the wonderful 'People Are Props' (very well written proggy pop) and the piano sections of 'Playschool' that aren't exactly inaccessible. Every track is very good (and extremely well performed), no filler here.

The only problems I have with this album are: 1) The completely weird production. I don't know, could have just been the sound they were going for. And 2) The bass that at times has no depth to it and is often difficult to distinguish from the guitar, but again, it could have just been on purpose.

All in all a very good album which is sadly overlooked (even within the C-A discography). And those coming from Fear Draws Misfortune or Introducing Lemon to this one may find a bit of style change.

Favourite tracks: 'So Sorry About China', 'The Butterfly Effect', 'People Are Props', 'Head Of Gumby', 'Ignorance Moving Sideways', 'Flies In The Amber'.

EDIT: 5 stars, this is a masterpiece!

CHEER-ACCIDENT are an Avant band out of Chicago who have been together since the early eighties. They are still making music! I got into them with their 2009 "Fear Draws Misfortune" because of the buzz that was around that one. I liked it so much I went back to their 1988 album "Sever Root, Tree Dies" and the biggest difference to my ears was how much more powerful it was in comparison. Now the guys are 20 years younger so I get it, it was just the thing that jumped out at me.

"Babies Shouldn't Smoke" is from 1992 and if anything they've increased the power here from that 1988 record. I also feel the humour is increased and this sounds more original, more like them, then the earlier one. This one gets tagged with noise rock for a reason and I feel it doesn't start that well but gets better as it plays out. From the first half though I have to mention "The Butterfly Effect" a ten minute piece opening with a fan telling the band they should get a real singer and play verse, chorus, verse before he gets destroyed by this heavy and dissonant music. Like they just ran him over.

There's three really great tracks on the second half like "Playschool", "Big Secret Airshow" and "Ignorance Moving Sideways". The closer is pretty funny too. A 56 minute album that has it's hits and misses but such a strong finish. Overall this is a low 4 stars. These guys have the best album titles don't they? And 30 studio albums! Such a talented band.