Animal Notes

Coming as it did after Crack the Sky's critically acclaimed first album, the darker, more cynical Animal Notes was something of a shock. The grim lyrics are still expressed with a dash of humor, but on the first four songs, the laughs are through clenched teeth. "We Want Mine," the opening cut, is a demand from a third-world native for a share of the world's wealth, a demand he knows will be ignored. "Animal Skins," which may be the best track on the album, skewers organized religion with bitter wit, and "Maybe I Can Fool Everybody Tonight" is told from the viewpoint of someone who is sure that his success is undeserved. Not until halfway through the album is there any lighter material, in the form of "Rangers at Midnight," a goofy pseudo-soundtrack about the Mounties. The remainder of the album is lighter in tone but the lyrics are oblique; "Virgin...No" sounds fantastic, all stellar harmonies and guitar hooks, but the vague verses seem to have no relation to the upbeat chorus. After the bright throwaway pop of "Invaders from Mars," lyricist John Palumbo returns to the bleak outlook of the first half with the somber "Play On." Palumbo left the band halfway through their next album and recorded a solo album of pained, introspective material, and his career direction can be seen in most of Animal Notes.