Custard - Loverama
http://homepage.powerup.com.au/~custard/loverama.gif
1998?/1999? (I swear I got this in 1998 but it's copyright thing is 1999)
Anyway, back then when my true musical self was forming, I won a cd from a promotion on a pack of chips. I'd heard Girls Like That and The New Matthew on radio, it was simple music, even a bit tacky, but fun and very catchy. I liked the songs, so I had a go and ended up with this cd, and I'm still enjoying it 5/6 years later, and have since considered it different enough to warrant the addition of "experimental" to the description. I guess it could be bordering on indie pop as well.
The tackiness is in the same vein as The Presidents Of The USA, if something's bad, that's what they meant to do, it's them having fun. Each song has it's own distinct style too, from grunge-country to disco to buzzing modem based synth rock, while always keeping a pop catchiness. Theres the usual rock instruments, along with quite a few appearances of synth and electronics too.
The lyrics can be funny/silly/strange, usually not requiring any thought to understand. The first half of the cd is more like this both musically and lyrically, towards the end it gets more serious and emotional and the music follows suit. Some of the stuff they do is quite surprising, and even mature in the later songs.
There's only two or so songs that I don't like, and for me and pop music, that's saying something. It could be because of this cd that I still give some pop music a chance, not simply casting it all off as simple soulless moneygrabs.
I'd probably give it around 8.5/10. A great example of how pop can be decent.
Given a chance, it's definitely a grower.
Fans of the following might like Custard:
The Presidents Of The USA
Beck
Delays
U2 (maybe)
Song recommends:
Girls Like That (Don't Go For Guys Like Us)
Monkey
The New Matthew
Nervous Breakdance
Genius
Ladies And Gentlemen
