After so many great singer-songwriters passed on to the big folk festival in the sky last year, it’s good to see that a new batch is attempting to take the reins. But while making an effort is a laudable act, so is good songwriting. Funny how that fact seems to escape so many people.
One of the most recent of these no-talents is Karney (yep, just “Karney”), whose self-titled album is somehow able to exemplify all that is mundane and worthless in rock music. An amazing feat for certain, especially from an apparent newcomer, but I’ve never been one to doubt the potential for everyday people to create music that truly and honestly sucks.
The problem does not lie in a lack of talent. Karney and her band are competent musicians in their own blandly functional sort of way, but they never use their skill toward anything more than repeating the standard rock forms of years past. The music never strives to be anything new or inventive; in fact the band even seems to scorn any inventive behavior instead of aiming for the predictable and boring.
But in itself, the music is not the problem. Many songwriters have overcome worthless accompaniment by the pure force of their lyrical and melodic power. Karney is not one of this select few. Lyrically, her songs are stripped-down tales of drugs, lost love, want and rebellion. All pretty standard fare these days, and Karney doesn’t really add anything new to the mix, other than maybe a startling lack of detail.
In fact, the songs are so stripped that they cannot possibly hold any connection to real life. While they are more than likely about something, this does not necessarily translate into something meaningful. Throughout the album, Karney fails to make any convincing argument as to why anyone should care. Someone also might have wanted to point out to her that no matter how much you twist your vocal inflection, “earth” and “dirt” do not rhyme.
With all that said, I would like to offer my sincerest thanks to Tom Heinl for putting out a record worth hearing. This Eugene resident’s latest, entitled “With or Without Me,” is certainly an interesting piece of work. Featuring a wide variety of local musicians playing background, Heinl karaokes over the songs, only occasionally actually playing an instrument or showing that he had anything to do with the music itself.
This might seem like an artistically dubious thing to do, but it works. The album is made up of the kind of 1950s or 1960s country-western songs that are often performed in karaoke bars. The second half of the album consists of a karaoke version of the first half, so listeners can perform their own in the privacy of their homes.
“With or Without Me” also works as a throwback to a particular style of country music from 30 or 40 years ago. Right down to the font on the front cover of the disc, this album looks like it could have been put out by George Jones or Patsy Cline. I would almost expect it to find in buried in the vinyl rack of a St. Vincent DePaul’s.
But other than being built around an interesting concept, the album is above all else funny. Heinl mixes a great eye for the low points of modern society with a country artist’s panache for the pathetic. Songs like “Half Day Vacation” and “Trailer Fever” are ballads about the lifestyle of those with severe income deficiencies, while “IHOP” could be the theme song for anyone who has found themselves hungry and inebriated at 2 a.m.
While there are few outlets for comedic performers in the music industry these days, Heinl is an artist who deserves an audience. Let’s wish him some luck in finding one.