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Steve BurnsSongs For Dustmites Pure Pop/Remote Control/Inertia Did you ever watch that kid's show, 'Blue's Clues' and wonder if that guy in the green stripy rugby top would make a really cool pop star? Neither did I. Who could have guessed that host Steve Burns would record a demo that would so impress Flaming Lip Steven Drozd and producers Dave Fridmann and Ed Buller that they would work with him on his debut album? Things start spectacularly enough with Mighty Little Man, an anthem for the album's hero: the microscopic organism. It's a grand epic with a driving bassline that reaches an awesome crescendo. The sci-fi theme and fuzzified bass imply that Burns is simply doing a Flaming Lips impersonation, but that's not the case; it's simply that his eccentric tunes have been given such a work up by Flaming Lips guys that you can't help comparing them. Some of the best tracks here are the ones that are relatively untouched by uber-production, such as the spacey What I Do On Saturday, and the piano ballad A Song For Dustmites (which granted, does include some signature drumming from Drozd). In fact the fuzzy bass sound in Maintain detracts from that song, showing that too much production can often be a bad thing. You might think that Fridmann and Co. have helped to improve some poor minor celebrity's underdeveloped songs. Actually, while their work does add something special, Burns didn't really need the help; highlights like Troposphere and Superstrings show he can easily hold his own as a songwriter.  |
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