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The Rice Thresher
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Mariel Tam Stephin Merritt can write half a dozen charming melodies in the time it takes you to eat dinner. Think of Hyacinths and Thistles, the impossibly named sophomore album from the equally awkwardly named the 6ths, as 69 Love Songs, Part Two. As the creative force behind the 6ths, Future Bible Heroes, the Gothic Archies, and best known for the Magnetic Fields, Merritt has a gift for writing catchy love-lorn pop songs. For proof, merely examine the Magnetic Fields' 1999 three-disc indie pop masterpiece, 69 Love Songs. But Hyacinths and Thistles feels like it was patched together from the outtakes of 69 Love Songs, which had some throwaways itself by virtue of its size. As the full-length followup to 69 Love Songs and the 6ths' lush debut, Wasps' Nests, Merritt's latest is a bit of a letdown. The 6ths marries Merritt's songwriting and instrumentation with vocals from guest artists as diverse as Gary Numan (best remembered for the retro one-hit wonder "Cars") and Katharine Whalen (solo artist and Squirrel Nut Zippers vocalist). In Hyacinths and Thistles, Merritt tends to use each singer's unique voice to fit the song's style - whereas for Wasps' Nests, he had the vocalists affect the same bored-sounding drawl Merritt himself tends to use, offsetting the songs' synth-filled prettiness. It's not an unwelcome change, and there are a number of highlights on the disc. In "Kissing Things," St. Etienne's Sarah Cracknell brings a sweet naivet‚ to Merritt's bittersweet lyrics - "I've been kissing my cigarette wishing it was you" - layered over a rhythmic squeaking that could be either shoes or a mattress being broken in. Perversely, Merritt gives "Lindy-Lou," a song filled with r and l sounds, to someone whose accent is sure to trip on them. But Miho Hatori's Japan-by-way-of-New-York accent only stumbles a few times even adding to her earnestness, as the Cibo Matto member sings such simple lines as "I have not got a thing for you/All I can really do is sing for you." Sixties folk-singer Melanie lends weary, aged vocals to "I've Got New York." Backed only by a toy piano, the track is definitely not hummable, but it reveals the human fragility that pervades the album. Merritt's characters are vulnerable to false dreams of love, to the images projected by Hollywood and celebrities. His melodies draw from Cole Porter and the Gershwins, but his often-bittersweet lyrics comment on the idyllic, light love songs of his influences. Merritt's Tin Pan Alley leads into some dark sidestreets. For every curious combination that somehow works, there's another that fails. "Volcana!" with Marc Almond, formerly of Soft Cell, tries to be a campy send-up of Hawaiian fantasies, but it's slow and tedious, especially when Merritt pairs it with kitschy ocean wave sound effects. In a similar vein is the closing song, "Oahu," sung by Miss Lily Banquette (of Combustible Edison), which fares better but is also an example of Merritt's excesses. Running throughout the song are campy synth flourishes that continue long after the singing ends - some 22 minutes later, in fact. You're left pressing the fast-forward button on the stereo waiting for a hidden track to show up, but you'll find nothing except an unsatisfying end to an uneven album. - Mariel Tam
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