Review of "Try Whistling This"

"TRY WHISTLING THIS"

A track-by-track walk through.

Last One Standing: If only Neil had the sense to record this with Garth Brooks, he'd top the Billboard Country Charts in the US. "Summer nights go on so long, so high I might as well be gone." I can hear this song with my ears blocked. I guess that is a good thing.

Souvenir: Is this song any good? Ooooh Yah yah yah yah yah. Hey, don't ask the question if you don't like the answer..

Should you fall asleep at the beginning of King Tide, be prepared to be rudely awoken half way through by a huge crashing guitar and drum driven aural assault. This is "Kare Kare" mark II, all sea and tides and stuff. Neil very nearly raps at the end. One wonders why. What next? Neil Finn vs. Run DMC?

Try Whistling This: Moody. Disturbing lyrics. Very dark. Don't drink gin while listening to this song. And don't leave any rope lying around. Is it possible to be uplifted by something so chilling? Because when Neil pulls the song into its soaring final section one simply flies. This is the kind of thing Pink Floyd have been failing to achieve since the mid-seventies, and not through lack of trying.

She Will Have Her Way: Hmmm. What an uninspired choice for the first single (for most of the world). It might as well be Crowded House. That is not normally a negative thing, but in this instance a more interesting song would make people sit up and take notice...

...like Sinner. For once the Americans get it right. This brooding song full of piano flourishes and synthesized strings will tunnel its way into the subconscious, twisting, turning, and lodging itself there. It demands to be noticed. And it will be. It will be.

Twisty Bass: Again, low key, dark, and haunting. An unforgettable bassline, and a mocking wah-wah guitar part. Strangely Neil sticks his head in a bucket to sing the chorus and the rap at the end. This might be the only song in history to include the line "and the horse ate my trousers" (at 3:49). Actually, one of those stupid English folk tunes is bound to have mentioned an equine with a penchant for pants sometime in the past four-hundred years.

Loose Tongue is quite obviously a dig at all the crap which is expounded on the "Tongue in the Mail" e-mail discussion-list, regarding Neil and his former cohorts. "A house has fallen down, because of my loose tongue..." "You shouldn't say so much- you shouldn't talk so loud, no sooner on your lips- it's all over town".

Truth: Just another piece of Neil Finn magic. A truly beautiful track. This is the song to make out to on this CD- what a pity it's only four minutes long. As always, the lyrics are somewhat oblique. The melody is so gorgeous you just wanna hug it.

Astro: Yeah, you know the deal- soaring vocals. Unexpected instrumentation. Odd phrases "Young girl wash the sleep out of your eyes"- "all your best one-liners, borrowed from a film"- "your body is a prison". yada yada yada...

Dream Date: At last- the song with Neil's wonderful falsetto, sounding like it is about to crack at any second. Sigh. But what is with that chorus? You could nip out and roll a joint between words! Maybe that is how the song was written?

Faster than Light: Well, obviously young Neil Finn wasn't paying attention during his physics class at school. Einstein proved it, and since then no-one has been able to disprove it (ignore those crazy worm-hole ideas, they're bollocks!). In time you will remember that things CANNOT go faster than light. I'll let Neil off though, because this song mentions "sparrows". With the Knees & Kitchen links to Neil's earlier works severed, at least we can take comfort in having a bird mentioned. Actually, there is another bird reference in this song- the introductory bars are one-hundred percent Albatross (and don't ask what flavor it is!).

"I was addicted to the drug. Now I know when I've had enough".If the recorded works of the Finns are my drug, I know I have certainly not had enough. Give me another hit- SOON! Tim- are you reading this? Neil, get cracking on album number two. Liam, Elroy, nip down to the basement and see what you can churn out for us. Give Hanson a run for their money.

- Brandi A.

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