Record Reviews

Clem Snide

The Ghost of Fashion (spinART)

The beautiful people can't catch a break on Clem Snide's newest CD and indictment of all things plasticly gorgeous, The Ghost of Fashion. Starting out with the surprisingly amplified "Let's Explode" and the declaration that "Love is only for the lovely," this usually reserved NYC band, now a quartet, has decided that on this their third full-length disc, they will rock. Drums and upright bass are the norm, beefing up the mainstay guitar/cello sound that made their first two albums so distinct, odd, and well, beautiful. The Ghost of Fashion makes good use of this dual dynamic, sliding through fast jittery pop ("Ice Cube") to slow softies (a revamping of "Chinese Baby" off their debut, You Were a Diamond), and all degrees between. "Don't Be Afraid of Your Anger" and "Moment in the Sun" are two of the album's strongest tunes, the latter a grin-twisted account of the misuse of public attention: "I've got a lot of things to say, and you'd be wise to listen good. I think that hunger, war, and death are bringing everybody down -- la la la la la la la la la la la la laaa." Brilliant. There's tenderness on Ghost, too, reserved as it is for "Joan Jett of Arc," a touching song about first love and rock & roll. Then comes a tribute to Cory Feldman called "Junky Jews," fuzzed out guitars and cellos railing against one another and the tragedy of undeserved fame. Lean and sneaky in a dangerously wise way, Clem Snide are a pop force not to be taken too lightly.