(Editor's note: There appears to be some flawed logic floating somewhere in the first four paragraphs of this review. No Ugly Babies accepts no responsibility for Mr. Grimes' ranting. He's summoning the serpent.)
Bloomington punk-popsters Cadmium Orange seem to have done themselves a major disservice with the release of their new long-player Rocket Pole. No, the problem's not in the music - after all, this record is best thing to come out of our sleepy little burg in about two years. It's just that in the liner notes of the album, they take the time to thank, among others, Guided by Voices.
Nothing wrong with that, of course, but you see, music journalists are a notoriously dim lot, especially the larger the audience - look no further than when Rolling Stone moved their offices from New York to Bruce Springsteen's ass sometime in the 1980s - and you can bet that there will be at least one John Q. Zinewriter will toss aside the disc, read the liner notes and proclaim Cadmium to be "Like a punk-rock GbV!"
You might pshaw right now, but it's been done before. It was, after all, the band Yo La Tengo who had an original song called "We're An American Band" buried at the end of their I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One album. And sure enough, in the pages of a magazine that shall remain nameless here (we do, after all, have the right to protect the stupid), the reviewer of the YLT disc included a reference to their "Grand Funk Railroad cover" - proving that if the reviewer did listen to the album, he sure didn't listen to all of it. Another blow struck against credibility amongst journalists.
But back to the crux of this review - yeah, Cadmium Orange might pull a trick or two out of the Guided by Voices bag on Rocket Pole ("She's A Fly" is but once or twice removed from GbV's "Wondering Boy Poet" on Vampire On Titus), but woe to the reviewer who believes that Cadmium are Robert Pollard's godchildren - they're so much more than that, and Rocket Pole proves it.
Rocket Pole is, in essence, two mini-operas on one record. The story of the disaffected Robert Pole kicks off with "Big Car" - a scorcher that doesn't let up until it melds into the catchy "Small Bodies Of Water" and its infectious chorus. Bass player Chris Reinhart's nimble playing on "Hunter Song" makes you think the wheels could fall off at any second, but just when all seems lost, the radio-ready "Post-Punk Perry" meanders in and hooks you with a chorus equally suited for tiny clubs or large arenas. The story (and the album) continues on in this fashion - blistering punk-rock numbers ("I Wanna Be The Universe", "Cheap Chinese Restaurant") interspersed with intensely contagious pop-rock ("Fritz Miller", "Throck Morton"). And songs that would sound merely silly by themselves - "Ode To A Punk Rock Chick" is 50s-doo-wop-meets-the-Ramones, if you can imagine that - fit in perfectly as movements of Rocket Pole.
The highlight of this record chock-full of them, however, is the second mini-opera called "The Serpent of Rock And Roll". It's rare that the live energy of a song translates directly to record, but Cadmium pull it off with ease. Simply put, the song has to be heard to be believed - again, the concept by itself is a little silly (evil clowns from outer space seems more "Weird Al" than punk rock), but "Serpent", a 17-minute epic with multiple movements, rocks too hard to not be taken seriously.
The musicianship on Rocket Pole is loose and aggressive at the same time - in addition to Thurston Moore-lookalike Reinhart's frenetic bass playing, guitarist Jason Groth proves that while anyone can play guitar, there aren't many in rock today who can play rhythm like he does. Jim May's vocals aren't those of the dime-a-dozen punk screamer variety - rather, his presence is deliciously understated and melodic. The glue that holds this train wreck together, though, is drummer Lee Mantle. With the departure of Jay Scott (late of John Walsh and the Sinkholes), Mantle can now drop the "co-" prefix from his "Best Drummer In Bloomington" title.
Do yourself a favor - the next time the Cadmium boys play one of their legendary Hunter Street basement shows, make the trip and check them out while you still can. After all, music this incredible can't go unheard for much longer.
Rocket Pole is available for $8 (including S & H) from Cadmium Orange at 718 E. Hunter St., Bloomington, IN 47401.
--Brandon Grimes