el oso

soul coughing

warner bros., 1998

Mood—Harsh, incomprehensible, comical.

Sample: "I Miss The Girl"

Thoughts— This was the last album of one of my favorite bands.

Soul Coughing are characterized by their upright bass, odd samples and even odder lyrics. Their third album El Oso feels the most mature of the three, naturally, but it also feels like it lost a bit of the magic. Perhaps their reason for disbanding was just that?

The songs are good, but it took me longer than I expected to really get into El Oso. I can't put a finger on why. Looking over the track list, I really like all of these songs. And yet, if I was going to put on a Soul Coughing album, this would be the last one I would choose.

"Circles" was a radio single, and it sounds like one. It's simple and happy and fun. It was even used in a short piece of cartoon filler for Boomerang and The Cartoon Network. But that's where the radio friendliness ends. Songs like "Blame" and "$300" are probably a bit to conceptual to be played by corporate DJs. Most of the album is rather dark and rough.

Soul Coughin is not a radio-friendly band, though. They've had a few "hits" but their best stuff is weird. "Maybe I'll Come Down" feels the most like a "classic" Soul Coughing track, while "The Incumbent", a conceptual, droning refusal of New York City, is quite a departure. My favorite song on the album, "St. Louise Is Listening", is intense, seedy, and dense. El Osos is definitely full of good music... music that takes some chances but still harkens to the band's roots.

And yet, I'm reminded again that this doesn't come to mind as an exceptional album... just a good one. I don't think I can put it to words, and I don't think my opinion is justified in any way. How odd!

Recommended? Good for fans, but you'll want Irresistable Bliss first.

Link—n/a

Tracklist
1. Rolling
2. Misinformed
3. Circles
4. Blame
5. St. Louise Is Listening
6. Maybe I'll Come Down
7. Houston
8. $300
9. Fully Retractable
10. Monster Man
11. Pensacola
12. I Miss The Girl
13. So Far I Have Not Found The Science
14. The Incumbent