Search - Drink Me :: Drink Me

This Unknown Has a Very Catchy Sound

09/14/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Drink me's two cd's are exceptional. I happened onto their second effort purely out of chance and fell in love. This album is no different. A unique, relaxed sound is mixed with a certain element of the very familiar in a creation which is nothing but catchy. No friend who I've played either cd for could ultimately resist it. Sure it's a little cheesy, but in the end it is great music. I encourage everyone who reads this to give Drink Me a shot. You won't be disappointed."

Perfection

bornjaded | Florida | 12/19/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Drink Me were known, if at all, primarily for their relationship to They Might Be Giants, as one of their opening acts. Despite the popularity of They Might Be Giants, Drink Me is, by far, the better band. Compared to TMBG, Drink Me haunts the low end of low-key, yet both albums they released before disappearing into complete obscurity were perfect, utterly perfect - witty, but warm, weird, yes, but unquestionably accessible. Lyrically, I might complain that TMBG are obtuse and almost pretentiously "playful" at times, and melodically, flat and monochrome. Mark Amft and Wynne Evans of Drink Me, however, inhabit a more specific world, the down-and-outness of The Great Depression and wide-eyed yet aimless transient living when boxcar travel was still in vogue. Both lyrically and melodically, Amft and Evans exhibit such whimsical simplicity that the songs, once familiarized, become like old friends, like folk songs or nursery rhymes that you've known longer than you can remember. These songs inevitably become sing-along fuel in the best way.



Consider the sweetness and charm of "Ines":



"She's a sweetheart and money-wise, she's doing well

'Cause she's the int-nat-nal spokesgal for Coco Chanel

She's a big bony greenbean

that talks too much

I am her old man and

she's my emotional crutch"



They play instruments like a Dipsy-Doodle Corn Chip bag and a Fanta bottle, with the accordion and ukulele popping up now and then, while Adam Sobel's blissful trumpet skips across these songs like a tiny parade of very happy sound waves. However, there is no pretense to hipness here, nor any pretense to anything else. This is music that is beautifully written and conceived, creating a highly distinctive tone that, if I had to compare it something, could be described as a composite of qualities found in the music of Tom Waits, Bob Dylan, and Woody Guthrie, but without all the world-weariness, and maybe with some of the dreaminess of Nick Drake's first two studio albums -- although this description would still misrepresent Drink Me.



Sad that this band has not resurfaced. Theirs are not the kind of records one might immediately feel compelled to declare things like "brilliant" or "one-of-a-kind," but they indeed are. The scale and modesty of this music is deceptive and wasn't quite ripe for publicity -- you may not even find it impressive on first listen, but it grows on you, and before you know it, you find yourself turning to it for comfort, for laughs ("Is it cold in here or is it just me? Where is the warmth of femininity?"), for warm smiles ("Stay up all night with me/And we'll watch the late late show/And laugh at the commercial/for Mr. Microphone...We'll drop coins down the mail chute/By the elevator doors/And listen while they jingle/On their journey down the floors"), or for an old musical friend. If you have an affinity for Tom Waits' "Closing Time," for the lyrical poignancy of songs like "Martha," if you long to hear the delicate emotional textures created by authors such as Salinger or Bukowski put to music, Drink Me's regrettably limited output is worth discovering now.



Before you know it, Wes Anderson may begin using Drink Me songs in his films."

Melancholy genius

doerksen | chicago, IL United States | 07/18/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There are no recordings I cherish more than Drink Me's two releases, this one and "Sleep.""