Search - Eef Barzelay :: Lose Big

Nerds are......er.....sexy?

Chris Thomas | Norman, Oklahoma | 06/24/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Do you love nerds? If so, this guy is your cupid. Eef Barzelay, former Clem Snide front man has succeeded where only the boys of Lambda Lambda Lambda dared to tread, making nerds look sexy. On his sophomore release "Lose Big", Mr. Barzelay doesn't necessarily break new ground, but what he does is he rocks a little, rolls a little and writes one hell of a song. Eef dons his hollow-bodied Gibson and hits each rusty cord with a stomp, bedroom music this may be, but his soulful lyrics and blues sound make this album perfect for any small gathering of humans. The first absolute classic is the second track "Girls Don't Care", where Eef sings in defense of all those girls in love with a douche "girls don't care/that you yearn to be free/girl's just want/a sweet melody". So true Eef, so true, how does a nerd get the female condition so right? Eef touches on the mystery of death with "Making another tree" crooning "bless me Lord/I'm only after/what you promised me". Damn this guy gets it, must be all that readin' and writin' while everyone else partied, damn I should have read more...NERDS! With plenty of good stuff in between these gems and a solo version of his own Clem Snide hit "I love the Unknown", this is one of those rare albums that isn't the next big thing, but is damn good from start to finish. Go ahead and put this album in for a spin or two, then tell all your friends how much you love the new Eef Barzelay, then watch all their eyes roll. It's ok, that is what indie music is all about, you know better then they do, you always have, nerd."

Finding hope in hopelessness

B. Martin | 11/13/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Death is just the end of dying Eef Barzelay sings (I am probably paraphrasing that) on his latest solo album. If that doesn't sound like a sentiment that you can get behind, then you are probably in the wrong place. This album is littered with depressing lyrics from the opening track "Could be Worse" all the way to the end. But if you think this is mere wrist slitting music, then think again. The genius of Barzelay is that he somehow manages to find hope and the possibility of new beginnings in his dark musings. The theme of this album is freedom whether it's from the demands of fans who only care about a decent melody on "Girls Don't Care" or from the constraints of earthly life in the beautiful and plaintive ballad, "Make Another Tree". In that song Barzelay asks God to break him in two and make another tree from the pieces. Elsewhere he imagines looking down from heaven on all of the cool kids who ignored him. Again, it sounds depressing, but Barzelay informs us that he believes he would be happy in the afterlife with angels surrounding him. All of this is set to Barzelay's usual indie-folk with an occasional uptempo rocker thrown in (Could be Worse, Lose Big). Even on those songs he's still searching for fulfillment that modern life doesn't seem to provide. Barzelay may not be able to take comfort in the fact that it could be worse, but his restless searching for meaning provides great comfort for listeners searching for music that offers substance and hope."