Friday, August 18, 2006 , Updated 12:01 p.m., August 19, 2006
CD Review: Eastwood’s Die Tryin’
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TexasGigs reviews are written by volunteers who want to share their knowledge and passion with other local enthusiasts. Anyone can write a review-- You can instantly post a comment on anything on the site, and for shows and movies, that might be in the form of a review. If you want to write more regularly, with a blog or your reviews appearing in the "stories" section, drop us a line.I try to keep both my mind and web space open to music of all kinds. And I realize that aspiring musicians are exactly that: 'aspirers' who haven't yet reached 'that place' in their vocal or musical ability but who nevertheless strive to sing and play their best.
But sometimes (unless you're a victim of politics) honesty must outweigh courtesy. Such a time occurs when reviewing Eastwood's Die Tryin'.
Composed of five thirty-somethings from Big D, Eastwood is an alt-country group that combines garage-band sound with middle-school lyrics. And though this combination often makes for some mildly-entertaining toilet humor, these guys even fall short of comedy.
Throughout the ten-track album, singer/guitarist David Heidle must be reading his lyrics from a wet napkin. The reason the napkin must be wet is two-fold: on the one hand, it partially explains Heidle's atonal, doldrum humming (a.k.a. 'singing') which continually sounds as if he himself doesn't know or can't read the words; and on the other hand, lyrics as cliché as "I want to be with you / can you put your hand in mine?" were almost certainly hurriedly scribbled across something like a wet napkin (possibly a coaster) after a night of one too many Buds.
A high school English teacher once taught me how to tell a good poem (or song) from a stinker. The bad ones, she said, are those that allow the rhyme scheme to dictate the plot. Therefore, when a song is so predictable that you can see the next line coming from a mile away, the quality of the work suffers. In order to highlight a few examples of this cardinal sin in Eastwood's album, spaces are substituted for lyrics in the following quiz:
Example #1
If you were trying to write a song in five minutes, which of the following would "best" complete the rhyme?
"Still you sing the same ol' song, and you ____ like _____ is _____."
A) pretend; everything; cool
B) look; God; angry
C) act; nothing; wrong
[Hint: answer can be found forty-five seconds into track #1 entitled "Like Nothing Happened."]
Example #2
If you were trying to write a song in five minutes, which of the following would "best" complete the rhyme?
"I don't know why I'm still here stuck in this town, yeah, my friends have all left, yeah, _____ ___ no one _____."
A) there; is; around
B) I; am; hungry
C) something more original
[Hint: it isn't C.]
In truth, being unable to sing doesn't always keep musicians from 'making it big' (think about Cher or Blink-182), but when the vocals are unreliable, originality, emotion, and musical quality must step up and carry the dead-weight.*
Original lyrics can create memorable stories, but in Eastwood's album the songs fall flat. What the tracks offer instead is the same shallow idea that a girl was bad to a guy and now she's gone.
In regard to emotional content, Heidle is not believable. In the conclusion of track #5, titled "Rumors," the words "my heart is breaking as I pack up my things, and here comes the tears as I pull of my ring," are uttered entirely without emotion. I'm not asking that he scream and sob into the microphone (as I'm also no fan of unnecessarily-emotional pseudo-punk emo music), but a little sincerity goes a long way.
And now we come to musical quality. While I admit I've been focusing mainly on lyrics instead of straight-up reviewing Eastwood's sound, it's because there is too little to say. Imagine what you think an alt-country band sounds like, and this is what Eastwood sounds like. The only exception occurs, albeit a brief one, in track #4, titled "Fallin' Down Again." This track is the freshest and most enjoyable out of the ten. However, it also ultimately falls prey to the previously mentioned pitfalls.
While I'm not a big fan of country, and some may cite this as reason for my negative review, it really shouldn't matter; you don't have to be an expert in a genre to realize these inadequacies. On the whole, Eastwood isn't terrible. If they were playing at the Trail Dust, I probably wouldn't leave. But their sound is un-aspiring and uninspired, and therefore isn't worth the time. As they themselves sing in this very album, "If your heart's not into it, then just let it be."
*of course, there's also the category of 'marketing' which allows talentless, visionless bands to reach stardom with ease
This story was submitted by a member of the TexasGigs community
Mike Orren, says:
Wow. Gotta say I gave the disc a spin last week and had a totally different impression -- I thought it was pretty solid alt-c in an 1100 Springs meets early 97's vein. I may have to give a closer listen and give a counterpoint next week.
Staff
3 years, 3 months agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal
jdwhitt, says:
I've given this album several listens and I've enjoyed it everytime. Not everyone can pen the next Born To Run, but what these boys produced is solid and they should be proud. I've also had the opportunity to see them live and they put on a great show. This review appears to border on vindictiveness for some reason. I remember a time when TexasGigs.com took the time to critique rather than to criticize, and its authors, even when reviewing what they deemed the worst of the worst, could always find some silver lining for a band to build upon.
Anonymous
3 years, 3 months agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal
Alan Cohen, says:
JD - I won't respond on behalf of Chad, just as I would not be happy if Chad spoke for me. I can tell you that I believe that its important for TexasGigs as an organization to allow its writers to express opinions, even if those opinions are different than my own. If that kind of policy warrants criticism of the organization, then so be it.
I haven't listened to the album yet, so I can't say whether I personally agree with his criticisms of the CD.
But I think you make a very valid point about searching for a silver lining. When I read negative music reviews, I often wonder what the author of the review would suggest the band do to improve their sound.
Staff
3 years, 3 months agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal
Mike Orren, says:
To add to what Alan said: It's taken us a while to build critical mass on this, as our audience grows, but ANYONE in the TexasGigs community can write a review. So over time, you're going to see a wide array of opinions.
We're different from any other outlet in town in that:
We'll commit to finding someone on our staff or in the community to review ANY current CD by a local band.
Once the review is posted, there are open comments below for people to dissent with the review, as JD did (and I did).
One old-media thing people need to shake when they engage with stories and commentary on our site: "TexasGigs" has no opinion. It has many staff members and community contributors who have their own opinions. When they write (or I write or you write) they speak for themselves, not the whole community.
And when they do speak, dissent and discussion are encouraged.
Staff
3 years, 3 months agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal
Chad Jones, says:
I respect your comments, jdwhitt, and I apologize if you were personally offended by the content of this review.
In all honesty, I really do try to keep in mind the silver lining whenever I write. However, I've got to remain firm on the overall unimpressiveness of the album. Musicians don't have to cite Thoreau to impress me; but I do believe the best music is music with an original sound--music that picks your mind (or soul).
And while this has most definitely been my 'meanest' article to date, I personally find it more humorous than vindictive.
Anyway, one of the many things I enjoy about writing for this site is that everyone can post their opinions alongside the opinions of others. Thanks again for your opinion.
Verified
3 years, 3 months agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal
jdwhitt, says:
This isn't the first time I've seen you guys feel the need to defend your review "process." Accordingly, it might behoove you and the integrity of texasgigs.com to explicity and prominently state somewhere on your site that "ANYONE in the TexasGigs community" (which should probably be defined) has the ability to post a "review".
I was under the impression that the texasgigs.com "organization" was a media outlet staffed by bloggers/writers with a desire to be taken seriously, rather than a message board (of sorts) that allows anyone to comment on a genre, album, issue, etc...
I was not necessarily offended by this reveiw, as I realize opinions differ, but was rather dissapointed with the lack of journalistic approach. Aside from my highschool newspaper, I can't recall the last time I saw an album review published in a legitamate publication (print or web) resort to ridicule to make it's point. To do so goes beyond criticizm and, as I stated previously, borders on vindictiveness. But, I suppose texasgigs.com now espouses this the type of behavior (either directly or indirectly) in it's effort to support it's policy to allow "writers" to freely express their opinions.
You know, editorial oversight does not necessarily infringe upon a writer's ability to express an opinion... it just makes for a better, more professional publication. Those running this site should perhaps that this into consideration.
Meanwhile, there are a plethora of websites out there one can resort to for the opinions of their "user community."
Please note that I am approaching this subject not as a musician, but rather as a music fan and longtime (since it's inception) peruser of texasgigs.com.
Anonymous
3 years, 3 months agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal
Amanda Newman, says:
âBut sometimes (unless you're a victim of politics) honesty must outweigh courtesy.â
Mr. Jones, most hoi polloi are capable of exhibiting an equal balance of both honesty and courtesy. We victims like to call it âbeing respectful.â
You strike me as perhaps unfamiliar with this phenomenon.
Verified
3 years, 3 months agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal
Alan Cohen, says:
"I can't recall the last time I saw an album review published in a legitamate publication (print or web) resort to ridicule to make it's point."
JD - I think you have been very lucky because I see this happen on a weekly (if not daily) basis. However, I can assure you that your criticisms will not be taken lightly.
One of the reasons that this isn't the first time you have heard individuals from TexasGigs feel the need to defend our review process is becasue we feel that TexasGigs is both a publication AND a community. I've always taken pride in how seriously everyone in the TexasGigs office takes the criticism that is thrown at us. And we believe in engaging in dialogue as a tool to improve. A full community of opinions will always provide more perspective than simply a small office of opinions ever will.
Staff
3 years, 3 months agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal
Chad Jones, says:
To BocaTinta, regarding "being respectful":
Actually, I think I was being incredibly respectful to the readers of this article by not pretending to enjoy an album that I did not enjoy.
To me, it is respectful to be honestâeven brutally if necessary.
Verified
3 years, 3 months agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal
Mike Orren, says:
JD--
I agree with some of your points and disagree with others. You're right about the need to post the explanation of how our reviews are written and by whom. That is our practice and had been inadvertantly left off this review. I added it yesterday.
To the rest, I thought this worth a longer reply, which I've done on my blog: http://www.texasgigs.com/blogs/notmus...
Staff
3 years, 3 months agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal
jdwhitt, says:
"You're right about the need to post the explanation of how our reviews are written and by whom. That is our practice and had been inadvertantly left off this review. I added it yesterday."
Had the disclaimer not been left off the page, I most likely would have not had much to say regarding this review, other than, "I've given this album several listens and I've enjoyed it..."
Anonymous
3 years, 3 months agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal