Pretty Not Bad

Few singers do swagger as well as Robert Pollard, and Chris Slusarenko crafts the perfect vehicle for that attitude with "Pretty Not Bad." Drummer John Moen (with whom Pollard and Slusarenko would later form Boston Spaceships) lays down a solid backbeat over which Slusarenko's guitar churns and chugs.

Pollard is duly inspired, delivering the vocal approximation of a strutting cock of the walk.

The gist of the song is that Pollard's girl is "pretty not bad," a sort of "Jesus is just all right with me" for relationship rock.

There are some funny self-referential lines in the song, including this self-aware gem: "I was born out of weirdness and intricate science, I got a fake English accent."

That is followed quickly by this:

‘Cus if you point me at the bong
I’m gonna write you a song
Called "pretty not bad"

Pretty much unravels the mystery of the song's creation, huh?

By the end, Pollard has forgotten his girl and focused on the song:

Pretty not bad - pretty not bad
I wrote a song and I like it
Called it "pretty not bad"

And that's just the way we like it.

You're At It

This is an odd way to start an album that is otherwise full of pretty catchy garage rock. It's a plodding song with average hooks, sounding like some sort of early to mid-'90s Touch and Go act (Tar, I'm looking at you). But it does have two things going for it: a great line and a guitar solo by Stephen Malkmus. Yes, artistic purity aside, Robert Pollard wants to sell records, so why not make sure Mr. Malkmus' name is fairly prominent on the back cover and that the song on which he appears leads off the album?

Oh, and that line? In an otherwise bland lyric, Pollard drops this: "This form of suicide’s not quick enough, what else ya got?" Worried you'll miss it? Don't be. He's knows a good thing when he writes it, and he repeats it again and again, with more fervor, as the song comes to a close.

Malkmus' solo is a fine bit of noodling, though nothing about it shouts "Pavementi!" to these ears. All told, it's a decent tune that might have been better buried somewhere on side 2.

Father's Favorite Temperature

With just a slight change in the beat, "Father's Favorite Temperature" could be an alt-country stomper. As it is, it's a plodding rocker that finds Robert Pollard dueting with himself nicely on a song where the verses carry more of the melodic hook than the chorus. Chris Slusarenko, who created the songs over which Pollard sings his lyrics in this collaboration, adds some nice touches, including a keyboard line that sounds like a warbling saxophone (or a saxophone that sounds like a synthesizer with a few keys missing) and nice slide solo that offers hints of George Harrison. The result is a track with a lot to like in a small space.