Chris Stamey - It's Alright

Chris Stamey – It's Alright
A&M, 1987
Acquired: Love Garden, Used, 2007
Price: $5

Now this is more like it. The instrumentation still relies a little too heavily on processed bass lines that give it a very 80s sheen, but the drums are crisper this time around, the keyboards less corny, and Stamey's hooks are tighter, catchier, and overall more fun to listen to. These bass lines are just fucking AWFUL though, and if they were absent this record would be a lot better. The latter half takes it down a notch with varying success. Most of the songs are decent, but certain elements (like the electronic or maybe just poorly recorded orchestral parts on “27 Years in a Single Day” stick out like a sore thumb) ruin them just a little. Then there's that ever present ugly thumping bass at the top of the mix that plagues all of Stamey's music. Now for the obligatory play on the title: It's Passable. Which is sad because it has such a great cover and I know Chris Stamey has talent. Maybe I'm just letting my disdain for that awful, awful bass sound that plagues his music get in the way. But really, for someone who played bass with Alex Chilton, this is just a crying shame. Though Peter Holsapple was sort of the pop genius of the dBs, I expect more from one the key members of one of the best power pop bands evah.