Astronaut Dubs

Crazy Mary

Humsting Records, 1999

http://crazymary.com

REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 02/01/2001

Sometimes, I don't know why I bother giving some bands a second - or even a third - chance.

Take New York-based Crazy Mary, for example. I wasn't overly impressed by their out-of-tune, minimalistic style that was my_heart_sings_the_harmony_web_ad_alt_250 She Comes In Waves. So what makes anyone think I'll change my mind with Astronaut Dubs, a seven-song EP featuring remixes of five of Crazy Mary's songs?

You can't spin straw into gold, and despite Crazy Mary's efforts, they just can't breathe any life into these songs, no matter how much studio trickery they use to manipulate the songs. I will give the disc credit, though - at least it's only 17 minutes long, so they don't draw out the pain for long.

Two of the tracks are pulled from Crazy Mary's first disc Passion Pit, and while "Johnny Thunders" offers the only ray of sunshine on this dark cloud of a disc, "Lightnin' Strikes" shows that the band has reveled in the minimalist style since their earliest days. This track is just annoying as hell.

Of the three songs pulled from She Comes In Waves, two of the tracks feature two different mixes. Memo to the band: I wasn't terribly fond of "Shock Me" or "She Comes In Waves" the first time around. What makes you think I'm going to like double-sized helpings the second time through the buffet line? On the latter track, both versions sound like one trick added is a bit of white noise, which is faded in and out at random. Stop it, stop it, stop it!!!

The 47-second blast of weird nothingness, "No Resistance," seems to act as a buffer between the two albums' songs, but is so non-existent that it's not even worth talking at length about.

Maybe Crazy Mary is not a band for everyone, I'm willing to concede that. But how Astronaut Dubs is supposed to win them over new fans is beyond me. After all, you don't go to the freak show at the carnival to widen your social circle.

Rating: D+

User Rating: Not Yet Rated


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© 2001 Christopher Thelen and The Daily Vault. All rights reserved. Review or any portion may not be reproduced without written permission. Cover art is the intellectual property of Humsting Records, and is used for informational purposes only.