Search - Fruit Bats :: Mouthfuls

The Best CD of 2003...for me

Mr. William L. Burge IV | St. Louis, MO | 12/23/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

""When you love somebody it's hard to think about anything but to breathe"For me this album can best be described with the bridal tradition of "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue"The album as a whole has an old familiar feel to it. At first listen, it's as if you've been listening to these songs for years tapping your toes and singing along. However...It's something incredible and new, and with each listen, you recognize the beautiful subtlty that Eric Johnson uses weaving his own voice into these well crafted songs while...borrowing from bands of the past that we all know and love. At times sounding as if he's pulling some old unheard Neil Young song out of the bins while at others effortlessly writing a song that even the Beatles would have wished they'd written.Much of the album has a blue somber tone. His words are simple, and direct, and for me, as a man, describe the beautiful things about love and the world around us in only the way a man can. Heartfelt yet quirky this album has touched me in a way few albums have with it's simple organic beauty. Eric Johnson is a songwriter that looks to the past for his inspiratin to move forward. It's nice to hear that people can still write these types of songs."Baby remember on the bus and my hand was on your knee
when you love somebody it's hard to think about anything but to breathe
baby I am the cold blues washed out in the flood
when you love somebody bite your tongue all you get is a mouth full of blood""

Album of the Year. Period

NPF | Madison, WI United States | 04/11/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"No one's reviewed this yet? This is, hands-down, the best album you'll hear this year. Each and every song is a perfect pop masterpiece. You'll hear echoes of Brian Wilson, the Beatles,Dylan, and maybe Pink Floyd, the Kinks, Big Star, Wilco, and every other great band along those lines. Mouthfuls is no exception the great, great albums Sub Pop has been putting out lately, including ones from bands like the Shins, the Baptist Generals,Ugly Casanova (featuring Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brook and Holowpaw's John Orth (Holopaw being another great band on Sub Pop that has more than a little in common with Fruit Bats). You're just going to have to take my word for it when I tell you that I'd be telling you this even if I didn't have a friend who works for Sub Pop.

Eric Johnson, who comprises one half of the band, writes all the songs, sings, and plays guitar and keyboards, toured with Ugly Casanova and played with kindred spirits Califone. He is accompanied on Mouthfuls by Gillian Lisee, who also provides gorgeous vocal accompaniment, plays bass, keys, and mandolin. It's hard to believe that sound textures this lush can come from two people, so, if nothing else, go see this band live when they come through town to see how they pull this off live.

With songs about rain and wind and clouds and rabbits and little acorns becoming mighty oaks, this is perfect music for spring, but you'll probably be listening to it all year round, whatever your mood. The songs teeter a fine line between melancholy and ecstacy like no music I've ever heard before. The most upbeat on the album song, closer "When U Love Somebody," completes its title with both "it's hard to think about anything but to breathe" and "bite your tongue all you get is a mouthful of blood."

These are just some of the many mouthfuls of beauty on the album. Conspiracy theorists will ponder the prescience of lines like "Love is like a spaceship burning up when it hits the atmosphere," at least if my assumption that it was written before we watched it happen earlier this year. It's just one of the many chilling moments on an altogether excellent disc. Look for it on critics' year end polls or cancel your subscriptions if you don't."