BRAIN: Piece of Work

[Brian Halligan]

Andy wrote:

>I like it! - more varied and, I think, catchier than anyhting since
>_Eponymous_.

It's the funkiness (Is that a word? How about funkitude?) that reminds me
of Eponymous. But PoW is so much "thicker" sounding, and I think the songs
are just better written. I don't really have a favorite song, but there are
little moments in all of them that are a real treat: Starting off an album
with an acapella tune, the horns on Rain, Rain. The lyrics and smokin' sax
solo on On the Road (Again), and the list goes on.

I think Al's drums are "turned-up" on PoW too. They're much more obvious
than on Trep. or even BoH. And that's the way I like it. The rhythm on Bad
Hair Day and Prince Albert are a lot of fun to groove to.

>But I've already found myself humming "Alpha and Omega" and "Swamp Thing."

I've had the melody to More Than Truth in my head lately. Now there's a
radio-friendly tune in a mid-'80s vein. The solos on the mellow tunes are
very well done. But that all leads back to Pete's great solo on Kiss Is a
Promise from Trep.

PoW is definately my favorite Surgeons album.

>(And I've also had the new Salaryman album, _Karoshi_, to take in as well,
>and that's pretty neat too!  And a v. loud Atari Teenage Riot gig!)

Do you have the ATR Live in Philadelphia '97 EP? That's a lot of fun.
Didn't care for the latest album though.

Brian

>--Andy
>
>mailto:Andy.Gilham at btinternet.com; http://www.btinternet.com/~andy.gilham