Consumer Guide Album

Mecca Normal: The Eagle and the Poodle [Matador, 1996]
Humorless, devoid of rebop, admired by a pretentious minority of an alt-rock subculture already way too full of itself, Jean Smith is a typical avant-garde hustler, her self-promotion harmless as long as innocent bystanders don't get guilt-tripped into deciding she gives them a thrill. I prefer her poetry to her songs because it's over faster, and because I can absorb it without hearing David Lester's freeee guitar. Naive interviewer (and jerk): "Do you listen to any music that you would consider obscure or different?" Smith: "I'm not really into all that record crap to tell you the truth." C