El Subliminoso

by

dada

Edit

dada's third (and final)IRS release "El Subliminoso" is their only self-produced effort (to date, anyway). For this 1996 release, the group finally got control of the `helm'. The dense pile of multiple overdubbed layers on most tracks, the occasional stylistic departures, and the overall extended song lengths of this disc are evidence of the group flexing their studio "muscles" and letting themselves capture their full vision for the songs without someone else calling the shots or reigning them in. Close study of the results reveals a fascinating set of songs that were labored over for many months-songs that continue to reveal hidden details even after years of listening. Their extensive efforts paid off with the creation of one of the most varied and distinctive discs in an already high-quality catalog.

There are plenty of songs that stay firmly within the alt-rock-power-trio-with-harmony-vocals musical territory staked out in their tasty '92 debut "Puzzle" and the sumptuous '94 follow-up "American Highway Flower". These include the soft verses/loud choruses dynamics of "I Get High" , "Rise", and the disc opener "Time Is Your Friend", a rumination on mortality's ever-ticking clock. Also somewhat conventional dada-sounding are the rockin' "Sick in Santorini", the scathing rumination on self-centeredness called "Fleecing of America" and one of the disc's highlights, "A Trip with My Dad". This humorous, surrealistic tale of father/son bonding is craftily worded so that you are never quite sure whether this is the recounting of an actual point-A-to-point-B car trip, or whether maybe the two simply climbed in the station wagon, dropped acid in the driveway and never even started the engine.

A few songs stray farther from the dada `comfort zone' with generally good results. "Bob the Drummer" slightly resembles the spoken-word (not quite rapping) style of a song from their debut disc called "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow" but incorporates a hip-hop beat. The sci-fi influenced "Spirit of 2009" employs some of the most densely-fuzzed bass on the planet to go with futuristic guitar sounds, distorted vocals and strangely muted drumming. "Star You Are" has an easy-listening, all acoustic, lush-harmony sound-but this deceptively sugary package hides a poisonous sting: lyrics representing the twisted world view of a deluded, homicidal "fan". This is easily the most chilling and disturbing song in the entire dada catalog if you listen closely enough.

"El Subliminoso" ranks as the most distinctive disc in the dada discography, and its occasionally challenging passages make it harder to absorb that the more immediately likeable other three 90's discs of dada. This disc, however, is most representative of the bands' vision and will ultimately reward the listener for making the investment in time it will take to fall in love with it. (Try it with headphones, by the way--amazing).

After this came out, IRS records imploded. After a self-titled 1998 disc on MCA failed to trouble the charts, dada entered the new millennium on a label-less, multi-year, self-imposed hiatus. The good news for fans is that after years silence or side projects (such a Butterfly Jones) they've revved up again in 2003. Look for more this year and beyond from this amazingly talented group.

This one didn't light my fire. Disappointing. The music is not bad though -- it just didn't live up to the previous two albums. I have had this album for several years and rarely played it (unlike Puzzle which I loved immediately and play often). Reading other's reviews here, I will try it again to see if it grows on me (I have my doubts though!). Don't give up on Dada though they are a tremendously talented band -- the best American band in decades (ever?).

UPDATE: Well I tried it again, and still did not care for it. Puzzle is the one to get. I read a comment recently from somebody that they thought bands should break up more often so that new more innovative bands can form -- I disagreed at the time (its bad when your favorite band breaks up) but perhaps he had a point. Where would we be now if Eric Clapton stuck with the Yardbirds -- no Blues Breakers legacy (so perhaps no Peter Green and Fleetwood Mac, Gary Moore, etc.), no Cream (and so perhaps no Van Halen?), no Led Zepplin? ...