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Back to school usually means back to boring in record-releaseland as the big-deal labels line up their superstars for summer or Christmas debuts. The September release of Flint's second CD will get the attention it deserves by not going up against acts already proven in the pop/rock arena. Most of the songs on 'Soggy' are well-disguised shoegazer offerings, showcasing the talents of guitarist Juwan Pilgrim and massaged into ears by vocalist Cody Jackson's whisky-soaked charms and sex-obsessed hooks. Overused themes in Jackson's lyrics and sloppy production keep this collection from being singled out as one of the best albums of the year but it should find more fans flocking to find out what all the critical fuss is about. Standout tracks include the scathing satire 'Stupid Rock Star' and the washed-out ballad, 'Sometimes I Really Hate You Kate'.
- Will U. Bashedden
Flint's debut album 'White Trash Folklore' out only two years ago reeked of potential. Exciting musically and backed by the verbose lyrics of Cody Jackson, Flint seemed to be a band to keep an eye on. The sophomore effort 'Soggy' is a disappointment. Trying to follow in the plodding footsteps of Counting Crows, Live and Matchbox 20, Flint succeeds with the formula and manages to make a middle of the road record. Jackson's songs could have easily been swiped from the notebooks of Rob Thomas or Adam Duritz if it weren't for juvenile subject matter. A strong song like Jackson's tongue-in-cheek "Stupid Rock Star" is overshadowed by superfluous songs about pinkslipping or cheating on a girlfriend. Flint was capable of so much more than this and fails to deliver. Unfortunately, that's likely what will see them break into the mainstream.
Despite the sex-charged lyrics of "Soggy", Flint's second release is a refreshing amalgam of acoustic guitar work (courtesy of Flint's Juwan Pilgrim), technical wizardry (courtesy of Flint's Doug Cherokee) and backbeat credos (courtesy of Pilgrim and Cherokee). The song "Vertigo" inspires sonic dizziness, "Without My Princess" masks vulnerability and "Stupid Rock Star" magnificently combines witty sarcasm and energizing pop-rock. Although opening track "Sweet Love" mistakenly banks on Seventies porn music making a comeback, "Soggy" reveals a band willing to experiment with various aspects of the dirty-pop genre and in doing so creating one of the five best albums of 2000 so far.
The follow-up to a debut album as good as Flint's 1998 release "White Trash Folklore" is daunting enough but with their new CD "Soggy", Flint have fashioned a musical masterpiece that exceeds the high standards set by their debut and should finally push them into a spotlight that critics have been predicting for years. Lyrically, "Soggy" finds singer/songwriter Cody Jackson as defiant as ever. He willingly trashes bands like Marilyn Manson and Limp Bizkit in the high-octane, sure-fire concert opener "Stupid Rock Star" and one can't help but assume the spoiled school girl in "Slut Du Jour" is rumored Flint fan Britney Spears. Listen to standout tracks like "Dying to Meet You" or "Wearing Bathing Suits" as proof that Juwan Pilgrim is an up-and-comer in the world of guitar gods. "Soggy" won't be everyone's cup of tea but it is a must buy for those tired of pop's standard fare.
1/2 of 5
Releasing Soggy in the same week as pop gems "In Blue" by the Corrs and BNL's "Maroon" is not smart marketing by independent record label Overlord. Marketed as pop, Flint may not have heard that alternative rock died. It has passed on. It is gone. Because Flint was not good enough for Lollapalooza's stage in the festival's heyday, the band missed their chance at fame and fortune. If anyone doubts that alternative is dead, listen to Soggy. You may prefer to saw off your own head or less drastically, listen to John Tesh.
Mining Britpop territory on their second album, "Soggy", Flint have more in common with other single-monikered acts like Blur, Travis and Coldplay than with the Matchbox Twentys and Collective Souls of the world that they are often wrongly compared with. An obvious maturation in the group's sound has occurred from the miminimalist grunge days of Flint's 1998 debut. "Soggy" is a wonderfully thought out, intensely-layered offering that is produced with simplicity in mind. A must-have for the thoughtful music fan.
It is hard to sift through all the shit that has been written about Flint in the past few years. Although a lot of that shit is of the band's own doing, it is sometimes hard to focus on the facts that this is a band that truly rocks. Soggy, the band's second full-length release, finds Flint at their shit- disturbing best. With the best shit-eating grin in music, singer Cody Jackson must have a hard time spitting out his lyrics because they constantly hint at the scandal and gossip that have dogged this band since breaking in as an independent five years ago. Slut Du Jour is the tour de force of this album as well as serving up a vicious putdown of schoolgirl Britney Spears, long rumored to harbor a crush on the swank Flint singer. At times Soggy is frantic and raw but it can manage to be melodic and thoughtful when it wants. Album highlights include the satirical Stupid Rock Star, dirty pop gem Dying To Meet You and the anthemic pseudo-punk angst of Page Three. Overall, bands with October/Christmas releases like Radiohead and U2 will have to be extremely strong to topple Soggy from the perch of 2000's best recording. Flint may be obnoxious and impudent but they are also very clever and more importantly, they have the songs and the shit to back it all up.
Grade: A+. Not shit at all, a brilliant compilation of sixteen musically diverse tracks. - RB Jr