Ed's Redeeming Qualities describe themselves as "a charming folk trio," but that description fails to mention their quirky humor, odd instruments, surreal lyrics, or disrespect for genre conventions. They can go from silly to sad to poignant to really weird, all in the same song! Their music has many flavors. The nasal lead singer, Dan Leone, used to be in a country band, The Buckets. The sultry-voiced Carrie Bradley is concurrently in several bands, among them The Breeders. The third member started out as Neno Perotta, the raspy-voiced best friend of Dan, as chronicled in "Knocking Down Chickens with Neno." But when the band moved to California, Neno stayed in Ohio, so they picked up children's book author Jonah Winter.
On More Bad Times, their first full-length album, the songs "Bob" and "Lawn Dart" have gotten the most publicity.
"Bob" just can't get anything to go his way. [ Your name is Bob and there's nothing you can do, the ladies won't go out with out because your name is Bob. ] This might be the same guy from "My Friend Bob," on one of their earlier EPs, which was remade for their latest CD (below). [ Bob's been havin' one rough day, givin' all his stuff away. ]
"Lawn Dart" sings the woes of a now-dead yard game, and the reasons for its disappearance. [ She was pegged in the head with a lawn dart, so they're now off the shelves at the K-Mart. We both felt so bad that we gave up the search. Ed went to bed and I went to church. ]
Among the instruments on their first album are ukulele, toy xylophone, bongos, and rice-in-a-coffee-can. The rice actually gets a solo on the title track!
On It's All Good News, their second full-length album, appear some of my favorite songs of theirs.
"King of Calypso" details the remorse felt by one who cannot achieve his dream, he has the desire, but not the talent. [ I wish I was the king of calypso, but I can barely sing as it is so, you don't even have to tell me, I already know. ];
"The Curse" describes the love of a man for his bad luck woman [ I wish I were a strong man, I'd lift her spirits first, then I'd lift 2000 pounds and then I'd lift that curse. ];
"Lighthouse" gets across the fascination a man has for a small girl whose unpredictability at first bothers him, and he doesn't realize until too late what she meant to him [ She asked me if we could go get some ice cream. I said I wasn't hungry, but I gave her a dollar. She wrapped it very tightly, and she bounced it off my forehead. ];
and "Bad Coffee," which is just plain non-sequitur silly [ Your act too crazy for me, like a week-long day without hours. Your life is too crazy for me. I can't see the fields for the flowers. ].
On Safe World, their next EP, is "Coriander Eyes," which also appears on their newest album, "At the Fish and Game Club." This is the first time I saw them live. I drove 16 hours to get there (but actually I was going to that city anyway).
Big Grapefruit Cleanup Job was their next album, a double, which was actually available on vinyl as well! It's a live album, and has some of their older songs, and many new ones. It's very high-energy overall, and is a very good introduction to the band.
Among its best songs are "I Will Wait," about a patient lover [ I make money waiting tables, and I don't know what you do. I've been a waiter all my life, I can wait a while for you. ], and "Calypso on the Beach," about the fun we can have together later in life, even if things aren't going our way right now [ It's okay if love is out of reach. We can play calypso on the beach. ].
Their newest album, At the Fish and Game Club, contains a remix of "Coriander Eyes" with Paddlefoot (who opened for ERQ on the Grapefruit tour) backing them (likewise, on Paddlefoot's self-titled debut album, ERQ backs them on "When I Was Nine").
Several older numbers were brought back to life for this album. Besides "Coriander Eyes" and "My Friend Bob" are "Sweater" [ Schoolbus let me pass it but I ran over a kid. You couldn't really blame me, I was drinking a large coffee with no lid. Kid got up and thanked me, said he'd never felt better. ], which is happier than an earlier song "Walk Again" [ I was listening to your band on my car stereo when you crashed into me... The doctors say I'll walk again, probably. ], and silly-but-sad "Scrambled Eggs" [ What started out an omelet wound up as scrambled eggs... I try to make you love me, but I just make scrambled eggs. ].
Overall, ERQ is one of the best bands out there for originality, fun, and thought. They're my favorite group, even above Men Without Hats and They Might Be Giants.
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