Retro Review - Ed's Redeeming Qualities -

More great songs that are easy as pie to play on the acoustic guitar. Funny and friendly, ERQ is the band you wish was your best friend.

It's All Good News marks a return of Ed's Redeeming Qualities, the acoustic alterna-folk band known for their approximately executed songs of whimsy. With this latest offering, the Eds add a number of songs that will soon become classics to the handful of people who buy this album. As with past offerings, the album is rough with little attention paid to slick production. Rather, listening to this album is like being invited to sit in on a jam session with three very close friends and hearing them make music for the sheer fun of it, laughing at each others offbeat lyrics and creating a closeness more in spirit than in rhythms or harmonies. Not that there is anything dissonant or poorly played. The songs on this album are simple but their simplicity is what makes them endearing.

For instance, "Forget It", a song for every male, is summed up with the lyrics "Clean out your head of all those things that I did wrong / You'll only get a headache 'cause the list keeps getting longer and longer / Don't forgive me, just forget it" while wild bongos and a happy, hopping violin play in the background. . The third song on the album is classic ERQ and captures everything I love about this group: a simply rhythm, basic chords, and endearing humorous lyrics that are free from pretense: "I can't be what I want to be/ And no operations gonna save me/ I was born in 1963 in Ohio / I know I won't be the King of Calypso / I can barely sing as it is so / You don't even have to say it/ I already know." How can you not love songs like this? What are you, the grinch? Many of the songs deal with love, such as "Lawyers & Truckers" as sung from the viewpoint of a trucker who loves a waitress who it turns out hates truckers but loves lawyers. "The Curse" finds the singer trying to woe his girlfriend with " Why don't you come and live with me? / You'll get the spare keys to my car / And we'll split the groceries / You'll pay half as much in rent and you'll have twice as many keys." Whether it's the lyrics or the fun melodies played on baritone ukelele and "rice in a coffee can", this album needs a nice home... why not yours? This review first appeared in WhatzUp, November 2000.

Retro Review - Ed's Redeeming Qualities - At The Fish And Game Club

This album has some amazing songs. "My Friend Bob" is one of the first songs I learned on the accordion and guitar and it's equally at home on the piano. I would venture to say that this friendly little song can be played on any instrument, past, present, or future, with equal success. "My Friend Bob" IS the ultimate universal song. And what's that on the cover? A moose playing cards with a fish and a vacuum cleaner?!?!? Pure gold, my friend... pure gold.

Once described as the David Lynch of folk music, I find it difficult to put Ed's Redeeming Qualities into any genre. There are bits of country, scoops of folk, dollops of calypso, a pinch of jazz, and a smattering of rock. The music is spare, almost minimalistic, the lyrics are stories spun into songs that are more than the sum of their words, stories that hit home and sneak into your subconscious. The "approximately executed" music and the "shaky" vocal harmonies give the album a very homespun and endearing quality. The eclectic nature of their music is a little like a menu from a Chinese restaurant: at any moment you will hear an instrument from each of column A (guitar, violin, toy xylophone), B (clarinet, accordion, mandolin, tin whistle, guitar), and C (ukulele, one-string cardboard "sweetcheeks" bass, banjo uke). Some very interesting combinations result including the clarinet playing bass runs on "Closed Mondays" and the penny whistle performing duets with the violin.

The songs on At The Fish and Game Club have instant appeal. Sung by a male, "Mom" pines "I wish I had the memory of dropping you off at school/ And then going home to watch Days Of Our Lives ... I wanna know the things that nobody knows about you." "My Friend Bob" tells the tale of Bob who is divesting himself of possessions with lines such as " My friend Bob gave me his western shirt / I said, "Hey Bob, it fits me great!" / He said, "Not me since I lost weight." While not exactly a comedy album, there is plenty of charm and warm humor to make a body chuckle. Other songs tell of car accidents with a kid ("But you cannot blame me / I was drinking a large coffee with no lid") and makeovers to attract old lovers ("And I'd do anything to appease her / Change my skin rearrange my nose / Get a better heart to please her / But I can't so I'll change my clothes".) No, it's not a dazzling display of technical virtuosity but it is a nice excursion from the troubles of life... an instant friend on a convenient plastic disc and definitely worth the effort to seek out.

This review first appeared in WhatzUp, January 2000.