Bob Schneider Lonelyland (Shockorama)

Bob Schneider

Lonelyland (Shockorama)

Who knew that underneath the obscene and sexist pig musical exterior of the Scabs lurked Bob Schneider, sensitive guy? Lonelyland, Schneider's debut as a singer-songwriter type, is one more reason to coo over him, though (or maybe resent him as the case may be), because on it he proves himself to be more than a capable writer without having to rely on rhyming monosyllabic dirty words. In fact, it's when Schneider most resembles his Scabs/Ugly Americans multiple personalities, as on "Bullets," "Jingy," and "Under My Skin," that Lonelyland proves weakest. When Schneider gets sappy and sentimental, that's when he nails it. And there are such instances aplenty on Lonelyland, most notably the breezy opener "Metal and Steel," and the penultimate stripped down ballad of desolation and denial, "2002." In between, Lonelyland also sports some loose if not unexpected arrangements. The languid "Madeline" has a break with, of all things, a Dark Side of the Moon feel to it. Maybe the coolest of all is "Round and Round," which at its core sounds uncannily like an acoustic version of Soul Coughing's "Circles," only it's adorned with an aria-esque backing vocal fill. Hard to believe that it comes from the same man who packs a room singing songs like "Pussy Fever." (Thursday, Antone's, Midnight-2am)