THE AWKWARD STAGE
Heaven is for Easy Girls
Mint
· Vancouver pop sideman Shane Nelken works out some growing pains on his debut album.
On the surface, Shane Nelken (the solitary man behind The Awkward Stage) has everything going for him. Part of the A.C. Newman/Sparrow/New Pornographers gang of Vancouver pop prodigies, Nelken has an undeniable gift for fey melodies and thoughtful lyrics, all of which is astonishingly clear from the opening bars of "The Morons are Winning," Heaven Is For Easy Girls’s first track. The song is a good example of what fills the rest of the disc – ambitious instrumentation, classic pop songwriting and lyrics so painfully clever that it’s best to read along with the liner notes to enjoy the full impact.
But despite Nelken’s talents, something about this record is just a bit off, be it the atrocious cover art (blow-up doll as prom date? Ugh.), the bounty of smart-ass song titles ("T-rexia Nervosa") or the feeling that, despite some great moments scattered throughout, the album never really pops. With a lot of artists these little things would barely matter, but Nelken has the potential for greatness. He may set his sights on genius but this time out he doesn’t quite make the mark.
3/5
ELIZABETH CHORNEY-BOOTH
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