Friday, February 9, 2007

CD Review: Alligator Dave’s I Drink

By Todd Maternowski

Three years after his terrifically addictive Stoned and Confused, Alligator Dave has once again put out an album that will shock, appall and entertain. I Drink, a collection of 14 songs about debauchery, drinking and drugs, uses all the usual themes of previous Alligator Dave songs --crass and perverted lyrics combined with wicked-slick guitar picking-- to create an instantly recognizable sound. Whether you like him or not, his style is both lyrically and musically original to the extreme.

No doubt this originality is the reason Alligator Dave has never really been liked by the local music media, who can't find a simple, easy-to-use label for A-Dave's singular signature style: part bluegrass, with some bluesy folk, a bit of reggae, and a big steaming pile of rap. Combined with lightning-fast song lyrics that would make 2 Live Crew blush, the best I could come up with was Raunchy Speed-Folk.

Regardless of what anyone wants to label him, Alligator Dave is first and foremost an extremely talented musician with an absolutely amazing live act, and this is fairly evident in I Drink. Overall this is a good album, recorded in Mexico on a farm in the mountains somewhere near the town of San Miguel De Allende, it has a very easygoing feel to it (perhaps too easygoing; the production in parts seems too laid back, almost too Buffett-y -- in stark contrast to the hyperactive whirlwinds of bawdy energy Alligator Dave brings to each of his live shows). Even the cover art is passively hilarious --I could swear he looks like my dad in the 70s-- but once the album kicks in, it's pure pervabilly from then on.

The album starts off with 'Marijuana Blues', a light and catchy song that has a distinctive Key West-esque feeling to it, perhaps put there to lull the first-time Alligator Dave fan into a false sense of high moral fibre before launching into one of the best songs on the album, the obscene and highly entertaining 'Coconut Rum'. With 'Coconut Rum', Alligator Dave dives into the subject matter that has defined his musical career: hyper-caffeinated speed-rap about the filthiest, nastiest pornographic sex ever put to acoustic guitar. In lesser hands this would be a recipe for disaster, but Dave pulls it off brilliantly, assaulting the listener with an unending flurry of unprintable depravity.

Launching a barrage of cleverly-rhymed and perfectly-timed scatalogical verses is Alligator Dave's bread-and-butter, and he uses it well throughout the rest of the album. On 'Humpin' Isn't Easy', Dave uses his talents well to create a happy folksy hip-hoppy song that will likely stick in your mind for days. Similar with track ten, 'Pant Meat', and the over-the-top hilarity of track #5 'My Dick', which, with it's catchy guitar-work and unforgettable lyrics, will probably be the most recognizable song on the album.

It's not all fun and games, however: even Alligator Dave can tune it down for the occasional pensive ballad, such as the title track, as well as the two longest songs on the album, 'The Chicken Bus' and 'Pussy Song Resung' --two slow-starting, sad and sweet folk ballads (the latter an endearing and affectionate lullaby on lesbianism). But for the most part, Dave sticks to what works best, going with old-school high-energy filth in the sailor song singalong 'The Butt Pirates' as well as my favorite track on the album, 'High Score', which may well be the catchiest video gamer's anthem ever made.

I Drink is definately an album worth listening to over and over again, despite not really capturing the incomparably entertaining live act that has made Alligator Dave so infamous - perhaps only a live album could convey the sense of crowd involvement and between-songs anecdotes that showcase Dave in his best element. Nevertheless, Alligator Dave has once again transcended the tired cliches of packaged studio sound alike rock albums, bringing music back to its Woody Guthrie-esque stripped-down, acoustic roots: a man with a guitar and 10,000 songs ready to captivate any audience.

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