Search - Loud Family, Anton Barbeau :: What If It Works

A melodious vicus of recirculation

Jeffrey J. Norman | Milwaukee | 07/13/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After several years off (during which time he started a family), the Loud Family's Scott Miller returns, this time with cohort Anton Barbeau loosening up a few of Miller's more buttoned-down tendencies. The three all-new Miller songs here ("Song About 'Rocks Off'," "Mavis of Maybelline Towers," and "Don't Bother Me While I'm Living Forever") are all first-rate, with Miller's usual knack for weaving guarded emotions and philosophical musings into pop-cultural framings having survived his layoff intact. Barbeau contributes another three new songs, with "Flow Thee Water" being a highlight. One collaboration (the engagingly catchy if lightweight "(Kind Of) In Love"), a couple of older songs from each songwriter (Miller's "Total Mass Destruction," Barbeau's "Pop Song 99"), and an eclectic trio of covers (originally by the Rolling Stones, Cat Stevens, and the Zombies) fill out the set. Miller and Barbeau remain potent melodists, with everything from ringing acoustic guitars, analog synth and Wurlitzer piano, and even near-psychedelic guitar work (on "Don't Bother Me...") giving form to those melodies."

A sparkling gem from two masters!

Robert S. Lloyd | San Jose, CA United States | 07/11/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This inspired collaboration between Scott Miller of The Loud Family and Anton Barbeau works beautifully, starting right out with an audacious cover of the Rolling Stones' "Rocks Off," and racing through nine sparkling originals and two more brilliant covers. The album has loads to like: a beautiful blending of acoustic and electric guitars, all kinds of clever keyboards, great rhythms from Miller's Loud Family bandmates, funny and fascinating lyrics, and plenty of quirkiness, adding up to pop songs that immediately get stuck in your brain and get better with every listen. Perhaps the biggest surprise is how well Miller's and Barbeau's voices work together, trading lead and backing vocals. (Listen to Barbeau's beautiful background lines in Miller's haunting "Don't Bother Me While I'm Living Forever" or the seamless tradeoffs in Cat Stevens's "I Think I See the Light.") As with Brendan Benson and Jack White of The Raconteurs, the combination seems to bring out the best in both. And the disc is beautifully recorded and produced--the songs jump out of your speakers. In sum, an unadulterated pleasure! Buy it now and hope they do another one soon."

A welcome return - impressive balance of Scott Miller and An

michael24339 | Washington DC | 02/11/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"In 2005, Scott Miller and the his old band lineup (Gil Ray, Alison Faith Levy, Kenny Kessel) began an album with Sacramento pop songwriter Anton Barbeau. The first studio record in more than a half-decade under the Loud Family name, What If It Works? is am emphatically democratic affair: four Miller tracks, four Barbeau tunes, one co-written number and three covers. At first glance, the pairing with Barbeau is potentially alarming -- while he is an unabashed disciple of Miller's songwriting, the two write very differently. Miller contemplates grand themes and alludes to Joyce and Nabokov; Barbeau wrote and performed the "Pudenda Song" and "Please Sir I've Got a Wooden Leg" and has always been something of a goof. But What If It Works? actually has both more gravitas from Barbeau and more humor from Miller than one might expect. The songwriting is lean, catchy and few sonic oddities. All told, the album is delightful. Kicking off with a skinny-tie rendition of the Stones' "Rocks Off," What If It Works? then immediately deconstructs the former with "Song About 'Rocks Off'," in which Miller coolly surveys Mick and Keef's romantic plight. "What if it's 'back off'? / What if it's 'come a little closer'? / But the mademoiselle hides it well / Ask someone who knows her."



Barbeau's contributions begin with a badly dated R.E.M. joke title, "Pop Song 99," but even this buzzy power-pop confection packs a lot of hidden depth with references to visiting a girlfriend's home, meeting the mother and the ghost of the father, bemoaning that "the problem with the kids today / is that they don't care about magic." He cutely name-drops "St. Nick's Pink Moon" as well. Although the album lacks a consistent theme or even sound, its many highlights includes a killer old Miller track ("Total Mass Destruction"), the spiraling "Mavis of Maybelline Tower," a nifty Cat Stevens cover ("I Think I See the Light") and Barbeau's splendid title track. There's a relatively feeble Zombies cover ("Remember You") and a so-so shared number ("(Kind of) In Love"), but the album has plenty of victories to overcome the few weak points. Barbeau's facility with keyboards adds some novel touches to the familiar Loud Family hooky pop. All told, if you're looking for power pop with brains, hooks, and enough wordplay to entice a whole Scrabble tournament, What If It Works? is a great place to find it.



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