1.13.2014

it's not just the prozac talking


I feel the need to piggyback on what Josh said here and chime in on Dr. Frank, something I've been meaning to do for a while now.

Indeed, he is one of the great lyricists of our time. Dude has a tool kit of word patterns, syllables, alliteration, puns, and rhyming that I've never heard before. MTX lyrics are much like Schlong's "Punk Side Story" - on first listen it sounds like silly goofing, but on repeated listens you realize how much work went into it, and the word "genius" begins to seem apt.

Dr. Frank famously sung his junior thesis ("Pythagoras and Orphic doctrines all came into play / because Plato was a mystic in his own Platonic way"). He consoled Kitty Menendez ("there'll be non compos mentises for all those Menendezes and Menendezes apprentices and doctors and dentist-es".  But while there were a couple of song gems per album, there was never an entire LP that sonically matched what was going on lyrically.

And then came Love Is Dead. Probably the best combination of catchy songs and smart, funny lyrics ever put to wax. Case in point:,  "Success in these relationships / rests more or less on gamesmanship / and these are ships / that I can't board / or keep in order or afford". An English teacher could have a field day with that.

Life got you down? Dr. Frank's there for you: "You'll find life can be kind of cool and not completely terrible / Absolutely sort of almost bearable."

And for the lovelorn: "Now we've established something precious / but chances are it could go awry / when we find how weak the flesh is / shattered, scattered, hung out to dry / It'll all come out when it's discovered / clearer than the teardrop in my eye / but I don't want to get screwed over by just anyone / you're the only one I want to get screwed over by."

Like all MTX albums, Love Is Dead is filled with memorable lyrics. The difference here is that Every. Single. Song. will get stuck in your head. Go read Josh's post, he has links to most of the songs via YouTube. The smarter thing to do would be to just go buy the fucking thing.






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