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The Folk Implosion
“One Part Lullaby”
Interscope Records
Grade: A
Once upon a time, when alterna
tive rock was just beginning its slow
death, a small indie-rock combo
called the Folk Implosion had a sur
prise hit with “Natural One,” from the
“Kids” soundtrack.
The song’s success seemed like a
fluke at the time. Folk Implosion was
n’t even a “band” in the textbook
sense of the term but merely a side
project for John Davis, a solo artist,
and Lou Barlow, member of famed
indie rockers Sebadoh. The group
refused to tour and released albums
only periodically.
The band seemed to ignore its hit
by doing nothing for a few years and
then releasing an album on the small
independent label Communion. The
songs were too indie-rock subtle to
gamer radio airplay, and the low-bud
get production was a move away from
the polished sound of “Natural One.”
By staying away from the tainted
world of corporate rock and MTV
Barlow and Davis didn’t overexpose
themselves or compromise their
music.
But times have changed. The
Implosion is now suckling the corpo
rate teat at Interscope Records, whose
vice president is that jerk from Limp
Bizkit. They are writing big pop
songs with big pop hooks and even
bigger choruses. The production is
crystal clear and radio ready. The Folk
Implosion is big, fat sellout. And the
music has never sounded better.
For the first time, the Implosion
sounds like a band. The songs are full,
rich and strong. The lyrics are still
moody and complex, and there are
still weird guitar chords and oddball
noises. But the songs are catchy
enough for your grandparents to
hum. This is the real follow-up to
“Natural One.”
The title track is a soaring, melod-.
ic ballad with a harp adding loads of
texture. “Free to Go” is a propulsive
pop song that should be a hit if there is
any justice in this world. “No Need to
Worry” has one of the catchiest cho
ruses of the year, and “E.Z. L.A.” has
some cool Vocoder effects on the
vocals, like a morphine-addled ver
sion of Zapp’s “More Bounce to the
Ounce.” Even the instrumental,
“Serge,” a tribute to French jazz and
pop composer Serge Gainsbourg,
sticks in the listener’s head.
Barlow and Davis have given lis
teners a batch of very well-crafted
pop songs. The arrangements have
grown more sophisticated. Drum
samples are used on nearly every
song in place of real drums, but the
songs still sound organic. The punk
and indie-rock touches have been
largely left to the members’ other pro
jects.
“One Part Lullaby” was supposed
to be released in July, which would
have made more sense. It makes for a
great summer record, an album to
play while driving in the city with the
windows rolled down. Record com
pany delays slowed the release date
until now. But songs like these will
sound great at any time of year.
If life made more sense, and God
knows it doesn’t, this album would be
huge. Yes, it’s a pop album'but it’s
pop as in snap crackle, not pop as in
popular. In an age in which pop music
means morons in backwards baseball
caps rapping over metal riffs, teen
age girls with breast implants wear
ing Catholic Church school girl out
fits and pretty boy pitchmen for
Abercrombie & Fitch, this album
probably won’t be a hit.
But for anyone sick of substance
free pap who still enjoys a well-craft
ed pop hook, “One Part Lullaby” is a
revelation.
-JoshKrauter
New ‘Hot Wheels Turbo’ just as fun as kids cars
Game: “Hot Wheels Turbo
Racing”
System: PlayStation
Company: Electronic Arts
Grade: B
Let it be said, I’m no video game
fanatic.
Let it also be said, sometimes I’m
a couch potato. Not always, but some
times I just can’t seem to move my
body parts, aside of course, from my
hands, which somehow continue to
command the remote control or Sony
PlayStation controllers.
With the onset of allergy-cold sea
son, I was forced to endure some
downtime over the past week. While
beached on the couch, I spent my idle
minutes, nay, hours, playing
Electronic Arts’ latest video game
release, “Hot Wheels Turbo Racing”
for the Sony PlayStation.
And I must say, the game was a
worthy couch companion.
Essentially, “Hot Wheels Turbo
Racing” is a race car game. There is
no way around that. What sets it apart
from games like “Need for Speed”
and “Ridge Racer” is the fact that all
of the cars are video game representa
tions of actual Hot Wheels toy cars.
The company picked more than
40 of the most popular Hot Wheels
cars and put them into the game. Each
car has different characteristics as far
as speed, stunt ability, control and
durability.
A drawback to this is that cool cars
such as Red Baron, Super Van, Evil
Weevil and the Barracuda are tough,
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bat slow, so there is really no reason to
be those cars if you want to win. In
order to get more use out of the old
school muscle cars, Electronic Arts
would have been well advised to make
a demolition derby mode - possibly
the most fun aspect of playing with
toy cars.
Another difference between “Hot
Wheels Turbo Racing” and other race
car games is that the cars can do tricks
when they ramp. The stunts are simi
lar to skateboard moves but with no
rider, and there are even half pipe
areas where the cars can pull airs just
like skaters.
This makes the cars more like the
Hot Wheels I remember as a kid.
Never once did I just drive cars around
in a respectable race. They were
always doing flips, rolls and other
stunts. In this sense, the game really
captures what makes Hot Wheels cars
fun for kids - the cars can do things
that could never happen in real life.
Of course, what good are sweet
cars unless you have sweet tracks to
run them on? Luckily, the tracks on
“Hot Wheels Turbo Racing” are
almost as bitchin’ as the cars. Tracks
include dirt, snow, tunnels and even
parts that look like old rubber Hot
Wheels tracks that form loopty-loops
and big ramps. The game also has a lot
of hidden short cuts and secret cars
you have to find to add to your collec
tion of already available cars.
The game case proudly advertises
a soundtrack featuring Metallica, Mix
Master Mike, Primus and The
Reverend Horton Heat, but in actuali
ty, the soundtrack is way less pound
ing than the case leads you to believe.
Most of the songs are instrumentals
that just sound like video game songs
anyway, and even when the song isn’t
an instrumental, the game plays it
almost three times throughout the
duration of a race. If I ever hear
Metallica’s “Fuel” again, it will be
waaaaay to soon.
Another drawback to the game is
that it never shows a track map on
screen, so you don’t know how far
ahead or behindjou are in compari
son to the other cars you are racing.
Also, when playing in two-player
mode, you can’t race the pack; you
can only race player two. If player two
happens to be particularly bad, like
my friend Walter, two-player mode
can be pretty boring.
While I personally don’t know
anything about the technical aspects
of video game graphics, I do know
that the graphics on this game are
pretty good. It never really gets chop
py or distorted, even in two-player
mode, and the game has a wide vari
ety of colors and angles.
Overall, “Hot Wheels Turbo
Racing” is a fun game for people too
impatient for the more involved role
playing games but still technical
enough to make older players think.
If you’re going to waste time play
ing video games, you might as well be
playing something fun, and “Hot
Wheels Turbo Racing” is a fun, tech
nical trip down memory lane.
-Jason Hardy
Having good skin
at my
