FFWD Weekly
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| MUSIC REVIEWS DAN BERN · Produced by Ani Difranco, who blends nicely into the background with her supporting instrumentation and vocals. · Likely one of the only folk pop albums ever recorded that starts out with the words "I got big balls, big old balls." While many people can pick up a guitar, string together a rhyming chorus of moon/june/spoon, and call themselves a singer/songwriter, folk popster Dan Bern shows it takes a bit more to actually hold a listener's attention. Leaving the sacred cows in the field, Bern approaches songwriting with a quick dry wit, unapologetically deconstructing that which is beautiful, evil and just plan wacky about human nature. Like a carpenter who hates to measure, Bern's work is not always pretty. Extra words make the occasional line a bit too long, and sometimes "teeth" and "feet" is as close as he gets to a rhyme, but it is not how they are built, rather the end product that makes Bern's songs so interesting. Appealing to the non-poet in all of us, Bern says what he thinks, regardless of how the words may look on paper. And whether he is singing the praises of "chick singers," pointing out the stupidity of racism, or suggesting an alternate theory to evolution ("aliens came and fucked the monkey/they fucked the monkey"), Dan Bern knows how to make a point, no matter how twisted it may be. While his 1997 release was prevalently acoustic, Fifty Eggs merges Bern's manic guitar styling and Dylanesque voice with a strong pop sound. Producer Difranco has recruited some of her friends to help out, including bassist Sara Lee (Indigo Girls, B52's) and percussionist Andy Stochansky. The full sound combines with Bern's no-holds-barred lyrics to create a musically interesting product that is gritty, funny and challenging. 4/5 Martin Kemp |