Frosting on the Beater: Half Great, Half Forgettable
Written: Mar 04 '03
Product Rating:
Pros: Six great songs...
Cons: Six not so great songs...
The Bottom Line: Both Flavor of the Month and Dream All Day are amazing tracks...along with four others. But the second half leaves something to be desired. Good choice, but buy carefully...
lambchops's Full Review: Frosting on the Beater by The Posies
Whether or not you know it, if you have listened to alternative radio at all within the past ten or so years you are already well acquainted with the Posies.
The Seattle-based alternative pop/rock band arose out of the music scene simultaneously with grunge. But the Posies weren’t dour, didn’t wear black, and didn’t finish their career with a suicide. Instead the band was content to put together tight melodies, catchy songs, and inventive lyrics in a neat little package not particularly different from the sound also formed by contemporaries like Matthew Sweet.
The Posies are in truth a foursome consisting most prominently of Jonathan Auer and Ken Stringfellow, both of which are guitarists, vocalists, and lyricists. The other two members have changed a few times since the band’s formation in 1986 but at the peak of their success in the early and mid 1990’s contained Rick Roberts (and soon thereafter Dave Fox) on bass and Mike Musberger on drums. Over the course of their career, the Posies have managed to release just five albums of new material in addition to a number of live, compilation, and various EP efforts. And of those five albums one stands out as the band’s most perfect, most entertaining, and most appealing.
That album is the 1993 DGC release Frosting on the Beater. And it is from this album that a number of Auer/Stringfellow-penned tracks helped to turn the relatively unknown act into a decently well-respected nearly famous band. And whatever reverence the band was granted was certainly deserved thanks to tremendous tracks like Flavor of the Month, Dream All Day, Solar Sister, Burn & Shine and the rest of the first half of that aforementioned third release.
Previous to the success of Frosting on the Beater, the Washington band made their indie debut with 1989’s Failure. A well-received album, it allowed for the band to be signed to a major label deal. And at DGC the Posies made their somewhat disappointing debut with Dear 23. That second album did little to further the band’s career aside from giving them some extra time to tread water and the occasional pleasing pop track. The fact that the band returned for a third try and subsequently hit it big and followed up with a tour opening with the reformed Big Star was a lovely surprise.
Frosting on the Beater could never be called a major hit for the Posies. Unfortunately for the band, their songs will be remembered whereas the band’s actual name will remain obscure. For better or for worse, this album is the Posies legacy. The twelve songs are impressive overall if you can overlook the forgettable second half. Frosting on the Beater is a stand out in an era of grunge. The songwriting is tight, and the fronting duo generally works well together. Rock producer Don Fleming (Sonic Youth, Alice Cooper, Teenage Fanclub) amped up the band’s precious sound from Dear 23 and in doing so this resulting album is infinitely more appealing.
But there are of course flaws with Frosting on the Beater, the most prominent of which is the drastically weaker second half. It is clear that the producers, record company and band knew what songs would be the most likely hits. And rather than making listeners wait until the end of the album to hear their favorites, they just slapped them all on the first half. The latter part is not bad. It just doesn’t hit wit the same amount of fervor that is present on the earlier tracks. Neither Auer nor Stringfellow do anything wrong. The guitars, vocals, and lyrics are all good. What is missing are the catchy melodies and vibrant fun that united the most successful tracks.
The Posies don’t dawdle when it comes to presenting their best material. The two most perfect songs appear on this album within the first three tracks. But with that said, the other four first tracks are nearly as perfect. Dream All Day barely brushed the charts stateside, yet in subsequent years it has received plenty of airplay on alternative radio and student radio networks. The thunderous guitars and drums that introduce the track are misleading. Once Stringfellow and Auer break into chorus, it is clear that Dream All Day is anything and everything but grunge, hard rock, or whatever other term that could be used to describe the music itself. The Posies produce intricate, beautiful, intriguing songs both musically and lyrically.
In a blackened room
Staring into space
Underneath a thousand blankets
Just to find a place
Where everything is reachable
Imagining is safe
I tried to make it so
I didn't even know
Lighter, slightly more upbeat, and incredibly compelling Solar Sister has also gotten it’s share of radio play in certain arenas. The pace is feverish, though the music is mild and the vocals are exactly as one would expect from the Posies, evocative and intelligent. And in the case of the material on Frosting on the Beater, the songs are just loud enough to make for great driving music. And in examining the overwhelming number of alt pop-rock bands in recent memory it would seem that these young artists also greatly enjoyed this album.
Flavor of the Month is the only other truly great song here. Another tiny combination of pop and rock and wrapped tightly with an alternative bow, the Posies are once again able to entertain and enlighten in the same sharp breath. While it may seem that the heavy guitars and drums would detract from the gently sweeping vocals, they do not. Stringfellow and Auer have powerful voices that soar above all other elements and compliment the written words marvelously. And these words are once again tremendous:
The flavor of the month is busy melting in your mouth
Getting easier to swallow and harder to spit out
Even a few of the lesser-known tracks are worth hearing. Love Letter Boxes continues in the same vein as the three previous songs, but it does so without exploiting the already successful equation. The band calms itself with moderately lighter thumps and guitars. The vocals are light and smooth, the exact opposite of what most bands would do with this kind of material and exactly what the Posies understood would make them standout in a sea of depressed Seattle bands.
Coming in a solid third place, Definite Door is introduced with a thick and grinding run of drums and guitars. But once the actual track breaks in, the Posies impress with a diabolically evil melody and effortlessly eloquent vocals. Once again, the band deviates little from the laid plans, but what they do accomplish is yet another timely yet upbeat alt-rock song.
The final notable song is Burn & Shine. Methodical, dark, and thoughtful the track deviates pretty significantly from the ruckus fashioned by the other tracks. The intense nature of the track is a perfect release and serves well as a bridge to the second half of the disc (despite the fact that the second half is largely dismissible). Once again, the vocals are genuine and touching…but this time the guitars and drums meet the duo in the middle.
As mentioned the remaining six songs lack the direction to make them individually worthwhile and to push Frosting on the Beater on the whole into the highest rankings of 1990’s music. Earlier Than Expected is fine, though it seems fluffy and pointless especially when set aside the standouts. The Posies clearly have the talent to make great music, but this is not it. Neither, in fact, is 20 Questions. While the track doesn’t offend, it is a bit too droll to appeal to fans of the band’s other more upbeat and artistically sound songs.
Continuing on, the Posies once again flounder with When Mute Tongues Can Speak. Lackluster, unconvincing, and in all the worst song on this disc, the song is too whiney, the lyrics and music also come up short. Lights Out does redeem the band for a moment with the twinkling chimes and acoustic guitar. While it takes a while to get going, it manages to present another facet to the Seattle band. The mild, introspective nature of the song is a welcome change. But the Posies plug in the middle of the track and rock out for a few seconds for no particular reason. The song would have been much better had they just stuck to the original intent.
How She Lied By Living and Coming Right Along wrap things up on a sour note. The former is okay, but it lacks any distinguishing marks. The vocals and drums are fine, but the guitars are too prominent and thick. Coming Right Along is disappointing in that it fails to leave the listener with happy thoughts about The Posies and their music. It’s annoyingly slow, too melodramatic, and seems thrown together half-heartedly.
In all, Frosting on the Beater is a better than average album. Shocked? Well…don’t be. The first six songs represent one of the strongest album starts I’ve ever heard and include some of the best alt pop-rock songs of the last decade. Listen to that first half, you’ll be impressed. But make sure to punch stop before the Posies begin the seventh track. It’s just better that way. Frosting on the Beater is recommended, especially to fans of Matthew Sweet, Teenage Fanclub, Semisonic, and other similar acts.
Rating: 3.75/5 stars
Track Listing:
01. Dream All Day | 02. Solar Sister | 03. Flavor of the Month | 04. Love Letter Boxes | 05. Definite Door | 06. Burn & Shine | 07. Earlier Than Expected | 08. 20 Questions | 09. When Mute Tongues Can Speak | 10. Lights Out | 11. How She Lied by Living | 12. Coming Right Along
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