Resident Alien

by

Spacehog

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When you are a freshman in high school you learn to keep out of the rough kids' ways, but one afternoon I was faced with no escape--alone in a room with one of our school's biggest hoodlums. He sat across the art room from me and when he walked in I had already settled in for a few hours of solitude in the room... so an unexpected guest was a bit odd, and especially one like him. I had already plopped my Spacehog cd into the player at the front of the room, and when he walked into the room he looked at me weird and then begun nodding his head. I sighed with relief and sat back and relaxed... a half hour later after the album started winding to a stop the boy with chains and spikes and dyed hair spoke, "What is this a new David Bowie release?" And for the first time since I had purchased the cd I figured out why the vocals were so soothing and comforting.... duh, because they sound like Mr. Bowie himself. I giggled and said "No it's Spacehog."... and he laughed too, more than likely for different reasons than my own. I have owned this album for quite some time and I still hold a few of the songs near and dear to my heart. Spacehog is another one of those artists that just didn't get enough recognition for their aparent talent. I am going to go out on the limb and say that this is one of the quirkiest albums I own... reasons: (1) The vocalist could be mistaken for Bowie by Bowie himself. (2) I don't own any Dismemberment Plan, so they didn't win. (3) "Space is the place where I will go when I am all alone. When nobody calls me on the phone, all alone." They actually believe they are from outer space... or I want to believe this because it would make it a bit more fun. (4) They have numerous quirky songs on this album and they sing them with such conviction. Talent they have, they didn't have to prove that. And I have a feeling they knew they would be passed over because of their quirky nature so they just had fun with this one... and for those who actually went out on the limb and bought this after hearing "In the Meantime" well they either (A) loved it because I do. or (B) tried to sell it to a used cd store because I seem to find a lot of them out there. This album deserves four stars because it is fun, it has lasting power, and these boys sing about space in the majority of their songs. This album deserves four stars because of one song alone... "Zero, zero, zero." That song shows their vigor, their strength, and their song-writing skills in a way none of the other tracks do. And they play it off as if they are trying to do some Monster Ballad.... ringing in at the beginning of the song with such heart-felt and truthful lyrics: "Please excuse me, I meant no harm in being born." I don't think you have to worry about Spacehog going unrecognized... if they had wished to have found fame then they would have produced completely different songs in the first place.. I think they have fun and this is beneficial to die-hard fans in the long run.