Miss Cantaloupe Debuts Pout Party and Performs Album Release Party at PhilaMOCA 8/14
Album review by Jeffrey Glenn
Miss Cantaloupe’s early recorded efforts document a preoccupation with the fantastical and dramatic, reflecting their theatrical, narrative-guided live shows of the time. Ensuing years and personnel changes have distanced them from this approach, favoring a more frequent performance schedule and letting the material speak for itself. Accordingly, third LP Pout Party displays a matured, more earthbound Miss Cantaloupe, without sacrificing their signature stoned dreaminess. Recent engagements with the Rock and Roll Playhouse entertaining kids and their hip parents with the music of Fleetwood Mac and Taylor Swift make their mark on this collection. Pervaded with slice-of-life imagery (“I took a nap, I took a walk”; “making my coffee, grinding beans”; “watching TV late at night”), there is a songwriterly vulnerability to singer/guitarist Christina Klaproth’s lyrics here, which dwell on everyday experience alongside the joys and miseries of love.
The sonics of the arrangements and of bassist Mike Parisi’s production mirror this focus, lending the album an open, articulate feel, with crisp, wide percussion, full, rich guitar tones, and subtle use of effects. Making their first appearance with the band on record is Andie Perri, whose sparkling upper register electric keys and sinuous synth hooks complement Joey Catrambone’s mellow flute lines to support a breezy, jazzy textural and harmonic palette. The singers’ harmonies blend attractively yet maintain the individuality of the voices. The group takes advantage of the capabilities of the studio while remaining true to proven live arrangements.
The sonics of the arrangements and of bassist Mike Parisi’s production mirror this focus, lending the album an open, articulate feel, with crisp, wide percussion, full, rich guitar tones, and subtle use of effects. Making their first appearance with the band on record is Andie Perri, whose sparkling upper register electric keys and sinuous synth hooks complement Joey Catrambone’s mellow flute lines to support a breezy, jazzy textural and harmonic palette. The singers’ harmonies blend attractively yet maintain the individuality of the voices. The group takes advantage of the capabilities of the studio while remaining true to proven live arrangements.
Listen to Pout Party Out Today!
“Will You Wait” sets the tone, exploring the bliss of a romantic vacation and acknowledging the occasional need for space and acceptance of boundaries. Early highlight “Nobody Likes Me” inverts the mood. The subject can’t shake the feeling of rejection and inadequacy brought about by the withdrawal of another’s affection. The usual coping approaches are failing and all that’s left to do is just wallow; this is the titular “pout party.” The record’s cover art invokes the trope of the sad clown, a theme that most entertainers would recognize and one to which the album will return. Lead single “Bestie!” follows. Perri’s clavinet and the sax of Reed Fela (on loan from Philly colleagues Red Meat Conspiracy) signal a nervy funk workout reminiscent of Talking Heads or Madness. The album’s most gregarious track, it delights in moments spent in the company of the people who know us best, from lazy afternoons gossiping to weekend nights out dancing. Miss Cantaloupe clearly enjoys each other’s company as well, simulating animated convos with “bestie,” chanting about “all the cool stuff that best friends do” (“wine stains!”, “tarot!”, “scissoring!”), and generally having fun in the studio.
Next comes a focal point in Pout Party. Covering the Beatles, especially something so canonical, is always a bold choice, and Miss Cantaloupe’s take on “Eight Days a Week” succeeds because it reinforces the themes that run through the album. Slowing the tempo and replacing the anxious swung eighths of the original with a straight feel shades the interpretation. The Beatles are saying that their overflowing passion cannot be contained or satisfied in a week of only seven days. Without changing a word, Miss Cantaloupe describes a different kind of love, one that is comfortable and grown up, deep and assured, too infinite to be defined by rational time.
An instrumental interlude of Latin percussion and drummer Sean Youngman’s hand pan ushers in the watercolor island imagery of “Make It Last (Forever),” taking us back to the sun-kissed beach of “Will You Wait.” Miss Cantaloupe is indulging in fantasy again, but this time it’s the concrete fantasy of possible futures with a love that promises eternity. This feeling gives way again to a lament of a frustrated romance on “Opposite Directions.” The plaintive melody and Jeff Mullen’s muted trumpet give the song a timeless, torch song feel that echoes the wistful tone. “Game” is the last full song, more a meal than a snack. An R&B groove supports a slithery, pointillistic verse that picks up steam in the pre-chorus, detailing the frustrations of being driven by a goal and motivated to do what it takes but feeling weary of the distractions and obligations that come along with that. An infectious, off-kilter 15/8 chorus continuously repeats the word “game” with its myriad connotations, feeling like banging one’s head against a wall. Later Fela returns to trade lines with Catrambone, reinforces the band’s unison stomp in one final chorus, and duets with Parisi as the mounting chaos and dissonance expresses the divided consciousness of the artist/self-promoting marketing manager in the age of social media. Parisi’s lone, meditative guitar takes over on the record’s instrumental coda, leading to an uneasy resolution on a major ninth chord. We find dissonance coexisting with stability, new questions embedded in solutions. It’s a bit like real life.
Miss Cantaloupe is performing this summer at Look Around Festival, Jam on the Grass, and Karnival of the Arts East. Join them for their album release show Thursday August 14 at PhilaMOCA with Red Meat Conspiracy and Deirdre French and celebrate the video release for lead single “Bestie!” with the band on August 19 at Fat Lady Brewing in Manayunk. Listen here to the 'Pout Party' debut on August 14th.
Miss Cantaloupe is performing this summer at Look Around Festival, Jam on the Grass, and Karnival of the Arts East. Join them for their album release show Thursday August 14 at PhilaMOCA with Red Meat Conspiracy and Deirdre French and celebrate the video release for lead single “Bestie!” with the band on August 19 at Fat Lady Brewing in Manayunk. Listen here to the 'Pout Party' debut on August 14th.
