Before we get into the meat of this column, let’s talk Winterpills. I have been a fan since hearing their 2010 EP Tuxedo of Ashes and have followed them since. Their one album of covers, Echolalia, was good enough to make me toss aside my disdain of this current trend, their arrangements making up for the usual lack of creativity on most bands parts. No such problem here. Love Songs is an all-original triumph, Philip Price writing his best songs since Tuxedo, and the band is in A-1 shape.
Ten to one, you’ve not heard The Merry Minuet. It is a fun little ditty put together by one Sheldon Harnick and performed live by The Kingston Trio on their 1959 classic …from the Hungry i album and, man, is it prophetic! If not for the lyrics, it would be a happy-go-lucky romp through the tulips, skipping and all, but when you listen… Well, when you listen, it’s not. It’s funny. It’s extreme. It’s absurd. But mostly, it’s funny. Sung in basic Allan Sherman mode (Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh!), it layers tragedy (lyrics) over ditty (music) and tells us, between the lines, that there is a little bit of truth in all humor. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work the other way around.
Bullseye Records of Canada
Segarini: Don't Believe a Word I Say 