Films for Radio

by

Over the Rhine

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.... I'm not sure how anyone can conceivably call Over the Rhine's music "vacuous," "vapid," "bland," and "shallow," because it's nothing of the sort. Now, if you're a fan of Over the Rhine because of Good Dog Bad Dog (my very favorite CD - I make friends with people just so I can give it to them), you'll find Films for Radio something of an acquired taste, as is the case with all of their albums, because each one is different - the band does indeed refuse to be tied to one genre. But it's a taste you'll acquire if you're patient enough to give it a few listens.

Far from being shallow, Over the Rhine confronts religious doubt ("'Cause like all true believers, I am truly skeptical of all that I have seen"), identity crises ("I don't know who else to be; more and more I'm secretly just me"), and that frustrating ineffability of things ("Words in my head, like misfits after midnight begging for a light; words left unsaid...they may never see the light of day, and that may be okay"). Karin and Linford package this up with their usual poetic and often sensual lyrics, epitomized in "The Body is a Stairway of Skin," a titillating series of body metaphors culminating in "the body is an apple on a tree," etc.; it's deceptively simple but reminiscent of the third chapter of Genesis and Sappho as well.

You can criticize the way Over the Rhine chooses to produce their songs on this CD. I am suspicious that this album's release on their new label encouraged them to deviate from their recent spare and contemplative style to more drum loops and electric guitars and keyboards. But I am as much attached to spareness and contemplation as anyone else, and I still love Films for Radio. Lyrically, this CD stands alongside any of their other work, and far from echoing the vapidity of (post)modernism, confronts it and fills it with cautious but undeniable meaning.

I've been a fan of Over the Rhine for more than 10 years now (!). I have all of their CDs. But I've gotta admit that this highly-anticipated release is one of my least favorites by the band.

While its heart is in the right place, 'Films for Radio' seems to suffer from an identity crisis. Yes, there are some really spectacular songs on the album, but the whole disc doesn't hold together as well as the band's earlier efforts. It feels more like a collection of overproduced singles than one coherent artistic statement. The satisfying payoff that you usually get at the end of one of Over the Rhine's records just isn't there with this CD.

Of course, a 'bad' Over the Rhine CD will always beat a 'good' CD by some of the yokels out there trying to write convincing art-pop music. I'd just suggest that if you're new to Over the Rhine, start with 'Good Dog Bad Dog' or their always-wonderful 'Patience.' Save 'Films' for later.