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The Mendoza LineFortune Cooking Vinyl/MGM This time last year I was singing the praises of The Mendoza Line's fourth album 'Lost In Revelry' so I was quite excited when the Georgia-based band released 'Fortune' so soon. However, I'm much less excited having listened to it a number of times: whereas 'Lost In Revelry' had not a dud track on it, 'Fortune' is rife with lacklustre fillers and instantly forgettable songs. It's not all bad. Fellow Travellers begins things nicely with Timothy Bracy doing his best Dylan (circa 'Nashville Skyline') while his compatriots layer the song with piano and pedal-steel, without overdoing things. Faithful Brother and It's A Long Line could be Lucinda Williams 'World Without Tears' b-sides, with Shannon McArdle's vocals the very spirit of alt-country, but They Never Bat An Eye is that one step too far where her voice is buried under over-slick pedal steel solos that drown out everything else in the mix. Throughout 'Fortune' there are slight similarities to American Music Club, Tom Petty, a country Fiona Apple, and The Dandy Warhols (particularly in Road To Insolvency), but the most obvious Mendoza Line influence is still Bob Dylan. The problem is that 'Fortune' takes this sound beyond musical influence into annoying imitation and by Metro Pictures Bracy's nasal twang sounds little more than a deliberate affectation. If Dylan released this I would be suitably horrified at the poor standard of the songs, so I'm hardly going to be lenient on a poor imitation. The Mendoza Line take their name from US baseball player Mario Mendoza whose consistently average major league batting performance never quite got him noticed with the Seattle Mariners. According to the band, The Mendoza Line is that standard that needs to be exceeded in order to achieve a renowned success. By their own logic The Mendoza Line would need to become better than themselves to achieve big-hitter status. 'Fortune' sees them strike out.  |
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