The Rentals - Return Of The Rentals

keepers - 4
Back in the age of grunge (1995), it was refreshing to hear the unassuming harmonies, humming Moog, and infectious "ooh-woo-hoo-hoo" on MTV with the minor hit "Friends Of P"****. "Waiting"**** is also charming in its immediacy,and its possible reference to Sharp's other band "no beauty, No sweet melody, No four-part barber shop harmony". Sharp also manages to make some tongue-twisting lines in "The Love I'm Searching For"****, like "Disconnect, shut the main reactor down, and separate from this technology-o" flow surprisingly well. "My Summer Girl" demonstrates the modest ambition of the album with only a couple dozen words, but has a great skipping rhythm by fellow Weezer alum Pat Wilson. There are true clunkers such as "You're just a stupid girl... I ain't no brilliant boy" on unfocused "Brilliant Boy", and the painfully awkward melody on the terrible "Move On". After the underwhelming middle stretch of tracks comes hard-swinging "Naive"*****, similar in feel to Weezer's "Holiday", and no less catchy in its own way. "These Days" falls more on the side of modest ambition, though like many others, the vocals are surprisingly bad for all involved, especially for a major label release, and closer "Sweetness And Tenderness" is too weakly performed to even achieve terrible status, confirming that except for the presence of half of Weezer, the album is a charming but unimportant curiosity of the time.

Comments