FRUSTRATION PLANTATION

Another album and another lineup for Rasputina. The group is down from three to two cellos with band leader Melora Creager and new member Zoe Keating, who would be gone herself by the next time Rasputina entered the studio. Creager also added a male band member for the first time, percussionist Jonathon TeBeest, and turned over drum machine programming duties to movie soundtrack veteran Joseph Bishara who also co-produced the record with Creager.

Creager composed most of the music once again although she includes a handful of obscure cover tunes, something she and the band would become known for on subsequent albums. In this case these include 'Wicked Dickie' which I believe was originally a reggae tune and that would become a staple of the band's later compilations and live performances. The band also delivers a brief and rather monotone rendition of 'When I was a Young Girl', a traditional tune that was covered more energetically by Feist around the same time.

And there's a show tune as well, another feature that would become something of a habit for Creager in both her Rasputina and solo albums that would follow. 'If Your Kisses Can't Hold the Man You Love (Then Your Tears Won't Bring Him Back)' comes form the 1930 London theatrical production 'Follow A Star', although in Creager's hands it sounds an awful lot like the girly retro-pop churned out by the likes of Tracey Ullman, Cyndi Lauper, Pearl Harbour and Karla DeVito in the early 80s. I should point out though that I liked a lot of that 80s girly retro-pop.

Elsewhere most of the industrial dirge of 2002's 'Cabin Fever' is gone, the band instead focusing on wyrd cello arrangements, theatrical posing and the occasional plugged-in accompaniment. The mood is decidedly more throwback than the last couple of records, the music aligning more closely with the corsets, Golden Age themes and old-school New York trappings in the liner notes and that the band projected in live shows during this period. Creager even goes to the trouble of wrapping a few tunes like 'When I Count...' in faux record scratches and tinny production to capture the feel of a time gone by.

Some of the lyrics are slightly more abstract than the band's prior work, demonstrating Creager was learning her craft and inserting some subtlety and nuance, or at least as much as she could while wearing a dirty old corset and American flag-themed bikini top. 'Secret Message' and 'Possum of the Grotto' come off quite well with this approach.

But elsewhere she can't resist reverting back to the lusty character sketches that make Creager's music endearing to so many of her drama-club and somewhat affected core fanbase. Creepy 'Saline the Salt Lake Queen', the self-destructive soul in 'Momma was an Opium Smoker' and the youthful widow in 'When I was a Young Girl' all inspire feelings of both sympathy and revulsion in Melora's hands.

Other than the band standards 'Wicked Dickie' and 'Opium Smoker' the remaining songs are all quite good but stop short of being magnificent. The closing 'Girls' School' is very creepy despite the pleasant twin cellos, and I have to wonder how much of its lyrics are autobiographical.

I like this album; indeed, there are very few Rasputina discs I don't like, but Melora Creager hadn't yet quite found her voice or creative stride. That would come though, as some of her best work was still ahead of her when this album released. Another three (out of five) star effort, but once again only recommended for those already familiar with the band and especially with their later and current work.

peace