Review Summary: With a new band to back her, Katie Bennett's DIY recordings delight
In
Palm Sunday, Kurt Vonnegut’s 1981 omnibus, the author rates his own books, but states that he isn’t ranking himself against the literary canon, just grading “myself with myself.” Katie Bennett, the creative force behind Saratoga Springs band free cake for every creature, has taken a similar approach of self-assessment when naming her albums. Her debut, a self-release, is titled
***ty Beginnings and her newest album, released June 10 on Double Double Whammy, is titled
Pretty Good.
Prior to
Pretty Good, Katie’s fifth release, her homespun twee-pop was a solo venture: she wrote all the songs and played them on guitar. She still writes all the songs, but the new album is a band effort. Bennett has joined forces with Colin Manjoney, lead guitar; Francis Lyons, drums; Brandon Dyer, bass; and Ian Stewart, who also plays bass “pretty damn often,” according to the album’s credits.
Kurt Cobain wrote in the liner notes for The Raincoats’ eponymous album, “Rather than listening to [The Raincoats] I feel like I’m listening in on them.” The same sentiment can be applied to Katie’s music. Listening to free cake for every creature feels akin to standing over a girl’s shoulder while she writes a love letter to her beau. The lyrics are so personal yet anyone can relate to them.
A quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson comes to mind when listening to Bennett’s tunes: “This is my music; this is myself.” Just from listening to her music, I feel like I know Katie.
“First Show Ever” is
Pretty Good’s opening track. It is a vignette, which describes the band drinking a forty of malt liquor together before playing its first show at a bar. The song also opened March’s
Freezing. All the songs on
Pretty Good are re-recorded full-band versions of songs that appeared on Katie’s past four EP’s.
Upon first listen, it is apparent that a lot has changed since
Freezing: having a band seems to have given Bennett more confidence; her airy vocals float above the guitar, whereas previously they sank below the surface. In the past, this made it harder to understand Katie’s lyrics, which is a shame because they are her strongest trait. They are tender and tongue-in-cheek, sentimental and silly.
The album is mixed in stereo giving more room for the rest of the band to show off their chops. The full band takes some getting used to, but once the listener gets comfortable he or she will surely enjoy the new dynamic.
Songs like “Too Old to Be a Punk Rock Prodigy” are fun and raucous. Lines like, “Listen to me complain/ I swear I’ve got ice cream for a brain” from “Melting in December” or, “Always been afraid to say/ just want to read books all day/ ‘cause I don’t want to sound lame/ don’t want to prematurely gray,” from “Don’t Go Away Ahumfp Acgroomf” are humorous and heartfelt at the same time, like the best of the early
Simpsons episodes.
The album offers a soundtrack to sensitive introverts who wear their hearts on their sleeves. There are songs about love, friends, and even a cover of R.E.M.’s 1987 hit “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine).” The song perfectly encapsulates free cake for every creature’s spirit: it is an optimistic ode to the end of the world; it doesn’t take itself seriously; it should be sad, but it’s uplifting.
Pretty Good is more than pretty good; it’s pretty great. It’s Katie’s strongest album to date. Even the fuzz and hum and hiss, the coughs, the mistakes, are endearing. It feels like it's there for a reason and always brings to mind Todd Rundgren’s monologue “Intro” from his seminal
Something/ Anything?
Dust off your mom’s old Walkman and check out free cake for every creature's tape, available on Double Double Whammy’s website. Katie is currently touring with King Clone and Bunkmate. Dates are listed on http://freecakeforeverycreature.tumblr.com
