[.ca] Gasoline Age

From Amazon.com:
Welcome to the insular world of F.M. Cornog. A staunch indie-vidualist who creates shambling rock anthems in the privacy of a home studio, Cornog usually works best when he's alone. Of course, he still moonlights with those subversive Nashville cats Lambchop, but Cornog's solo stuff really showcases his masterful pop craftsmanship. On the shimmering song "Wholesale Lies," Cornog summons the ghost of prime-era Beach Boys with splendid results. While Cornog's voice is a fairly rough instrument, his off-hand singing complements the fringe-dwelling imagery of ERP's unusual sound. As a one-man band, Cornog draws inspiration from the romantic world of automobiles. With eccentric compositions like "Shiny, Shiny Pimpmobile," "Cybercar," and "14th Street Stolen Car Club," Cornog takes this urban experience to an entertaining, lo-fi extreme.--Mitch Myers

Like many bedroom visionaries, East River Pipe's home-studio world is full of solitary aches and slightly desperate desires. What gives The Gasoline Age its added kick is that it's about a guy who trades the city for the suburbs, and buys a car hoping to escape to a better life. It's beautiful low-fi pop, brimming with small triumphs, like hitting a string of green lights, and even bigger disappointments, like driving to Atlantic City praying all the way for a big score that never arrives. --Keith Moerer

odd how:
odd how well one guy and a home studio can do--yet not so strange when you consider the beautiful, savant nature of FM Cornog's melodies and childlike lyrics: this is simply a majestic little record--like a mountain contained in a tiny box. i know that's a silly metaphor but i love this guy's sad voice and soothing worldweariness. if you are at all familiar with red house painters, the black watch, idaho, or her space holiday (great great melodic bands every one of them--and i urge you to look at their releases too) you will fall in love with east river!

east river pipe - gasoline age:
This album is a microsymphony to the God of estrangement, desolation, and eternal hope - the soundtrack to thousands of lonely souls clanging around desperately in the truck-stop voids and dimestores. FM Cornog crafts these heart-wrenching and gorgeous tunes in his little vestebule away from the outside world. Comparitively, Cornog's songs rank with the greats: Lennon's introspection, Wilson's desolate meloncholy, Verlaine's gutter narratives. Using almost exclusively major chord progressions, Cornog elicits more true emotion than any of the shoe-gazing minor chord heavy handed bands can muster - and with a great deal less prentention than, say, this wordy and overly precious review.

Nearly Flawless:
I picked up this CD after it made (NY Times music critic) Neil Strauss' top 10 list for 1999. Musically, East River Pipe deals in glowing, shimmering, intensely beautiful heartbreak...Think John Lennon's "#9 Dream", or Television's "Carried Away", or a sadder Beach Boys song like "In My Room", or Lou Reed's "Coney Island Baby". Lyrically, these songs sketch out the lives of outsiders cruising in their cars on the outskirts of the city...A pimp in "Shiny, Shiny Pimpmobile", a hustler in "14th St. Boys Stolen Car Club", a broken dreamer in "Atlantic City (Gonna Make A Million Tonight)", two drugged-out buddies in "Party Drive". This might sound depressing, but East River Pipe somehow manages to make it all oddly uplifting. This release is nearly flawless. Thank you, Mr. Strauss, for turning me on to this exceptional album/artist.

Is this his best?:
OK, I'll admit it. I'm an East River Pipe completist, having first heard "Shining Hours in the Can," his first CD, on college radio when it came out several years ago. That is an amazing disk, and one of my favorite records. Following that, he put out "Poor Fricky" which I found as good, if not better in places. "Mel" (his 3rd CD) is good but very dark. "The Gasoline Age" I am playing alot these days -- the music is as good as anything he has done, but the lyrics are on the minimalist side and not quite as engaging as the unforgettable words from the first two records. I have played this music for lots of my friends and usually get no response (but then I hated my roommate's Nirvana.) Like a previous reviwer said, I think his music appeals to those who appreciate the Velvet Underground or Tom Verlaine (Television.) (At times the guitar solos are equal to that of Verlaine on the Television records, which is saying alot.) Mixed with the brilliant guitar work is almost cheezy organ work, and his vocals are sincere as hell. Check out one of these CDs and if you like, get the other 3. They are consistently excellent. (Also note: The G Age got 9/10 stars in Spin and was on Neill Strauss' Top 10 of 1999.)

Blah!:
I bought this CD on reccomendation from Amazon.com - that was a mistake. It's just boring lo-fi humdrum. I think they recommended it because I had purchased a Red House Painters CD - well, these fellas sound nothing like the RHP. Be wary of a computer telling you what you might or might not like.

• Shiny, Shiny Pimpmobile
• Hell Is an Open Door
• Cybercar
• Wholesale Lies
• My Little Rainbow
• Party Drive
• King of Nothing Never
• 14st Street Boys Stolen Car Club
• All You Little Suckers
• Astrofarm
• Down 42nd Street to the Light
• Altantic City (Gonna Make a Million Tonight)
• Don't Hurrry