Or, maybe I just have no soul.

You know who I wish I liked more? Smoosh

The acclaimed, under-age, critical uber-darlings Smoosh are the type of band that hear about long before you actually hear them. Hailing from my hometown of Seattle, Smoosh has been popping up on various festival line-ups for several years now, and have been receiving raves in pretty much every indie-music Zine and Blog I've read. The conceit being that despite their young age (or quite likely because of their young age) they craft some damn fine pop music. So, when when their first album She Like Electric popped up on Rhapsody a while ago, I was ready for it to be my New Favorite Album of All Time™.



Except it wasn't. I mean sure, they seemed talented. And sure their single Rad was, well, rad. And, they did come off almost like a miniturized Luscious Jackson. Or maybe a young, happy Fiona Apple (is there such a thing?). But, they just didn't "wow" me.

Which sucks because, really, who wants to be the 30 year old guy being dismissive of music by made by 11 and 13 year old girls? I mean, that's pretty pitiful. I'm a real jerk.

So, when I discovered today that their new album, Free To Stay, is now available on Rhapsody, I was eager to give it a listen. Maybe their music had changed or matured in a way that made me enjoy it more. Maybe, this new album would be the one that made me really like Smoosh!



Except, unfortunately, I don't like it any more. In fact, I might like it a little less. Now I feel like a real turd. True, I think that their music actually has matured. And the production values have also definitely improved. It's probably a more fully realized album.

...except, it also lost the one thing that I did enjoy from the first album: The youthful energy. The feeling that this music had just spontaniously burst forth from these two young girls seems to be gone. It's a perfectly competent album, but unremarkable.

All was not lost for me though because, immediately after listening to "Free to Stay," I put "She Like Electric" back in and gave it another listen. And you know what, I like it more already. Maybe, the newest album just makes me appreciate the original more but, hey, it doesn't seem that bad! In fact, it's downright fun! Maybe I like Smoosh after all. Or at least "old school Smoosh."

I still feel like a bit of a jerk though.

Smoosh's "She Like Electric"

Smoosh's "Free To Stay"