Saturday, January 24, 2009

REVIEW: The Shaggs - Philosophy Of The World

2 out of 10

I'm sure there is some poor bastard in the world who listens to The Shaggs on a regular basis. And it takes a "special" kind of bastard to listen and love the sound of tweens that can't play their instruments. There is not one instance where ANYTHING is played in time. It's such a mess of an album, but still surprisingly listenable. Frank Zappa listed this as his third favorite album of all time. I don't know what the other two are, but it's hard to imagine anyone loving this album. I keep it around because I like playing weird music for estranged people.

The Story is that a working class father bought his daughters instruments to keep them busy, and then decided to record them "when they were fresh." The original pressing was very small, maybe a thousand, which was sold from their car or sent into radio stations. Years and years later a copy falls into Frank Zappa's lap, and he hypes it like crazy. Rolling Stone eventually listed it on their '"Top 100 Most Influential Alternative Albums" list. Pretentious bastards.

Every song is pretty much the same, a guitar that is kind of strummed. Drum beats that are all over the place, and mixed down vocals about dogs and tall people. And yet much like Daniel Johnston, it does have a kind of charm to it. It's not “un-listenable”, in-fact I'd rather listen to The Shaggs than Puddle Of Mudd. But anyone that pronounces it genius should re-think their opinion.

It is what it is, and what it is, is children noodling on instruments. Deerhoof did a bizarre cover of "My Pal Foot Foot" that’s worth checking out. The album is short, and if you find it cheap, it's worth listening to once. Just for novelty's sake.

Bottom Line: WEIRD.

Standout Tracks: My Pal Foot Foot can oddly enough get stuck in your head.

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