Tribute albums come in all shapes and sizes. You have the good-but-shouldn’t-be (‘Dragon Attack’ – a metal tribute to Queen, worth hearing for Lemmy rasping his way through ‘Tie Your Mother Down’); the brilliant (‘Working Class Hero’ – a tribute to John Lennon, containing rare and unreleased tracks by Blues Traveler and Screaming Trees, among others); and sometimes you’re faced with the unashamedly awful (‘Sin-atra’). Occasionally, you get one that screams novelty (as was the case with ‘Saturday Morning’, featuring punk and alternative bands performing cartoon themes; and even that contains some real genius – everybody should hear Sublime giving ‘Hong Kong Phooey’ the reggae treatment).

As an alternative rock tribute to songs associated with The Muppets, ‘The Green Album’ should fall squarely into the novelty category, but most of this release holds up on its own merits. Let’s face it, the songs featured in The Muppet Show (and the various Muppet films) are well written pieces of pop, and even with an alternative kick up the arse, they still sound like well written songs.

The gorgeous ‘Rainbow Connection’ (written by Paul Williams and Kenny Ascher) is given a suitably respectful airing. Played in a duet between Weezer and Paramore’s Hayley Williams, the arrangement is soft at first, with acoustic guitars, keyboard strings and occasional tinkling harps. River’s Cuomo’s vocal performance captures the right level of innocence, but he’s no match for Williams who takes the song and pulls the best from every note. Eventually, she almost drowns out Cuomo’s voice in the process, especially once the drums kick in. Since Weezer’s post 2001 output is often so half-baked, you’ll be so thankful they didn’t screw this up. In contrast comes Evenescence vocalist Amy Lee’s reimagining of ‘Halfway Up The Stairs’. The vocal melody remains firmly intact – and Lee’s voice is strong – but musically, it’s a bit of a clanger. This once nursery rhyme has been deconstructed and rebuilt as a collection of semi-industrial beats and loops. You can see what she was aiming for here, but it could have been handled much better. Also filling out the quota for “edgy” is a metal version of ‘Night Life’ (from The Great Muppet Caper), performed by Atreyu’s Brandon Saller and Billy Martin of Good Charlotte. The guitars come with plenty of crunch and Saller hams it up slightly, which only adds to the fun. Throw in some rather loud drums and you have a winning combination.

As one of the key songs in The Muppet Movie, the original ‘Movin’ Right Along’ is a banjo and piano affair – distinctly the work of Paul Williams, not too dissimilar to something from Bugsy Malone. That jaunty nature is tailor-made for Alkaline Trio’s punk-pop rendition, featuring strong vocals and playing throughout. The band makes it their own, while never losing sight of the original musical blueprint (Amy Lee, take note). There’s even a hint of rinky-dinky piano left in on occasion to tip the hat further to the original 1979 Muppet take. With a sparse arrangement, Andrew Bird’s ‘Being Green’ is lovely, pitching his soft vocal against plucked and bowed violin, brushed drums and acoustic guitar. There’s little else to say, but if you were a fan of Bird’s work before, chances are you’ll find this to be an essential collection filler, even though it’s still not quite up there with Van Morrison’s 1973 cover [that version likely recorded as a statement on Irish troubles, as opposed to being a frog].

Not one of the better Muppet songs, ‘Our World’ (featured in the lesser known 1977 special Emmet Otter’s Jugband Christmas) was originally too twee for its own good. In the hands of My Morning Jacket it gets improved no end, with choirs of voices and extensive use of banjo. The original twee style is still there in part, but its gentle nature is perfectly suited to Jim James’s vocal range. Norwegian singer-songwriter Sondre Lerche puts his mark on the 1963 composition ‘Mr Bassman’ (featured in a 1976 episode of The Muppet Show). It’s likely you’ve heard other versions of this number, and Lerche’s version doesn’t differ too much, aside from the addition of some guitar reverb. It’s an annoying song at best, and is one of ‘The Green Album’s more likely to get skipped.

The only tracks featured on ‘The Green Album’ which come across as novelty are the two pieces which were rather more disposable to begin with. OK Go’s reimagining of ‘The Muppet Show Theme’ comes fully equipped with an electronic groove. Hearing the choir of voices sing the oh-so familiar theme against some hefty beats at first can be slightly unnerving, but once you settle into the style, it’s quite fun. The best moments are provided by a carny style keyboard and fuzzy guitar solo. That brings us onto the other throwaway number: ‘Mahna Mahna’. Of course, like ‘Mr Bassman’, this isn’t strictly speaking a Muppet song, but most people think of it as such, so it belongs here. Compared to the likes of ‘Rainbow Connection’, ‘Being Green’ and ‘Movin’ Right Along’, ‘Mahna Mahna’ certainly represents the short straw in terms of song writing brilliance. Despite the fact they know it’s silly, The Fray turn in a more than creditable performance of this 1968 Piero Umilani number, complete with tack piano, harmony voices and – most importantly – growling vocals which would make Jim Henson smile.

Although it has a relatively short playing time at just over 36 minutes, ‘The Green Album’ is often an exercise in quality over quantity, since against the odds, most of these cover versions work rather well. More surprisingly, the re-workings of these songs stand up to repeated listens. With so many great artists featured and some enjoyable takes on a few old Muppet favourites (with Weezer/Williams and Andrew Bird making gold standard) ‘The Green Album’ is a very worthwhile purchase. Wocka wocka wocka!

August 2011

Mild Mannered’s history dates back to the early 2000’s, when Jennifer and Pat Casa – recording as Starberry – released two home-recorded albums. The first of those releases earned the pair a “band of the week” accolade from the Cleveland Scene online news magazine. Time passed, and eventually the pair hooked up with guitarist/bassist Tim Parnin [previously associated with The Chuck Mosley band, featuring – unsurprisingly enough – one Chuck Mosley, previously of Faith No More and Cement]. With the addition of Parnin, the Casas renamed the band Mild Mannered. Their debut album ‘Believeland’ features various nods to the 90s alternative scene and, for those who still hanker after those sounds, is a release which will strike in chord in a few places.

Chunky guitars crash against a barrage of hi-hats during the intro of ‘Back Home’ which sounds even better once the bass sits on top of the arrangement. Jennifer Casa’s lead vocal is full of long notes which, at first, sound slightly flat, but once the end of the chorus chimes in, it’s obvious, like Deborah Harry back in the 70s and Chrissie Hynde in the 80s, this is a probably a stylised choice. By the middle of the song, you’ll be transported back to the glory days of bands like Belly, Sleater-Kinney and Velocity Girl. The semi-acoustic ‘Keys To Rio’ has a pleasing jangle, but very little to back that up. Casa’s vocal is in a similar style once again, but doesn’t work quite as well as the opener; on the first couple of listens it seems like a rather long three-and-a-half minutes. Although the main hook could have been stronger, subsequent spins reveal previously undiscovered charms, so it’s a number worth persevering with.

‘Applehead’ is potentially nasty, due to a stabbed Casiotone piano, grating mariachi trumpet, and unrestrained vocal. The slightly out-of-tune nature is bound to remind some listeners of Denver, CO band Dressy Bessy, but unless you absolutely love those guys, this one’s a definite skipper. It could be worse though, it could include a choir of singing children… Oh. ‘Me’ brings things back into the land of sanity with a decent rocker, this time featuring sludgy rhythm guitars and a wailing lead. The in-your-face brand of 90s alternativeness here doesn’t bring anything new to the genre, though as before, if you spent the second half of that decade pumped up on Hole and Sleater-Kinney, you’ll probably love this. Similarly, the adrenalin-driven ‘Satifaction’ brings more guitar-based buzzes – and with this number, the big hooks come courtesy of a fantastically playful guitar lead during the intro and a good use of harmony vocals. In terms of actual chorus though, it’s severely lacking, but once those other elements are taken into consideration, that doesn’t really matter.

It’s on the not-quite punk pop number ‘Wonder’ where Mild Mannered offer a short burst of absolute brilliance. Over super-jangly rhythms and a hard snare drum, Jennifer Casa’s vocals are the album’s best. Gone are the slightly flat, stylised edges; in their place, a breezy delivery which recalls cult bubblegum punkers Cub. In a complete change of style ‘Eclipse’ is also enjoyable, being constructed via keyboard drones, electronic loops and a clicking drum machine. Once the guitars arrive, things are slightly more driven and Jen’s lead vocal has a hint of Kristin Hersh as she powers her vocal against the cold guitar sounds. Like ‘Applehead’, ‘The Ones Who Got Away’ turns down the guitars and brings the piano to the fore, but also like ‘Applehead’, it’s not especially good. The backing vocals are reasonable, but once again, the lead has elements which grate slightly. On the plus side, Tim Parnin’s bass adds a few good moments to this number, and it’s sixties girl-group vibe on occasion makes it easy to see what the band were aiming for here. Generally speaking, however, it’s another track which suggests they really need to stop tinkering with piano tunes.

Mild Mannered have some good – if not always especially original – musical ideas, and their various 90s moods are capable of making the listener feel a certain degree of nostialgia. But unlike other 90s revivalists Yuck, that nostalgia brought by Mild Mannered is more of the happy kind. They miss the mark rather dramatically on a couple of songs, but in the main, if you like any of the bands mentioned here, you could do far worse than check out ‘Believeland’.

August 2011

In 2007, when this Swedish three piece was known as Mark 0, they put out a demo recording which presented them in an alternative funk-metal mode.  Influences from Incubus were fairly obvious, as was the fact the band had clearly spent a lot of time listening to Foo Fighters and other great bands.  While they appeared to be musically tight, they lacked a sound of their own.  By the release of 2009’s ‘Paper Tigers’ EP, Mark 0 had become Sleeping Dervish and any desire to become the next Incubus had vanished – the late 90s funk-metal influences were swept aside in favour of a late 90s/early 00s jangly guitar based, alt-rock vibe.

For their 2010 EP ‘The Water Scared’, the band explores similar musical territory.  As before, their sound features traces of many different late 90s alternative rock bands, but there are not any really clear, over-riding influences.  ‘Cover Your Tracks’ has a slightly funky shuffle during the verses, although this is purely down to drummer Vanja Hadsic’s playing.  Andreas Hosio’s bass work refrains from stepping into the realms of funk, but behind the Goo Goo Dolls styled guitar work, his bass sound has an almost lead presence at times.  Gustav Classon’s vocals are clean and well-suited to the band’s general sound.  Despite the band’s style and overall volume, his voice never gets lost among the barrage of guitars and drums; for a self-financed release, the production is spot on.

‘Son of a Trader’ continues with more chiming guitars and similarly sharp production.  On first listen, this appears to be one of the EP’s weaker numbers, as it doesn’t quite have the urgency of the opener, but repeated listens prove the chorus to be something of a slow-burner.  As it stands, it’s a solid track, with Clarsson’s late 90s style guitar work providing just enough presence to keep things flowing.   The title cut opens with an almost circular guitar riff before settling into fairly predictable alt-rock territory.  Clarsson can be heard in good vocal form once again, and Hadsic’s crashy approach to the drums gives the number plenty of backbone. However, lacking a decent hook, this ends up in the category of ‘filler material’.

‘I!’ presents something a little edgier, as a crashy riff leads into a piece of music featuring a rolling bass part, which is almost completely buried underneath a wall of guitars.  Clarsson’s vocals feature a harder edge than before and a simple, repetitive chorus hammers the point home.  A mid section makes best use of a clean and angular guitar sound, moving the band away from semi-noisy indie-rock into a more progressive, Tubelord style territory.  This mid-section sounds like it was written separately and then wedged into the end piece, but still manages to work effectively.  This angrier approach carries into the following number ‘Are We Done?’ which has a great live sound – the lead guitars ringing out above a heavy rhythm.  Overall, it doesn’t bring much new to Sleeping Dervish’s mix of sounds and influences, but its lead guitar riff attracts attention with its bell-like clarity.

The closing number ‘Everything Is Sound’ shows Sleeping Dervish at their best.  Following a fuzzy opening riff with a heavy influence from early Placebo, the band find a busy, slightly off-centre groove which features an interesting drum pattern; this in turn encourages moments of spiky interplay from the bass.  The alt-rock riff provides ample backing for an okay chorus.  It’s an example of the band’s sound at its most angry, a feeling definitely helped by the pointed bass work.

The songs themselves may not always show a great musical range, but listeners should recognise the work of a tight musical unit throughout this release.  ‘The Water Scared’ is a release which doesn’t always hit the mark, but when it does (as on ‘Everything Is Sound’) there’s a feeling that Sleeping Dervish are a talented bunch.

February 2010