Lull

by

The Smashing Pumpkins

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This is kind of a nostalgic little EP for us Generation Xers. It's Gish-era material and B-sides that would do any Pumpkins fan proud. After "Lull," the Smashing Pumpkins upped the ante and ran away with their success, making these simple songs that much more of a treasure. Gish's "Rhinocerous" mixes a dreamy start to buzzsaw guitars that later take over, almost nullifying the heartfelt but sappy lyrics. The short "Blue" starts with quiet wind chimes and a belching bass, which gives way to thumping drums, quiet interludes and a bizarre bridge that peters out. "Blue" foreshadows some of the future pop the Pumpkins would delve into, whereas "Slunk" contains wild guitars and snotty lyrics, properly leading off this era of music, stuff that rivaled even Nirvana's. Finally, "Bye June" is as tender as "Slunk" is rambunctious. The song features spacey lyrics and an acoustic guitar, nothing more. It's pure magic from a band just beginning to tap into its abandonment and potential. Unfortunately, because of its length, "Lull" is nothing spectacular. The songs are good, a few borderline great, but my understanding is that this band had many more great unreleased tunes from 1989. Now that's scary.