Wellwater Conspiracy
Declaration Of Conformity
Crítica del álbum
Compañía discográfica: Third Gear
Fecha de publicación: 1997
Crítica del álbum
What's to become of "alternative" hard rock in the wake of Soundgarden's demise and Scott Weiland's mercurial, on-off relationship with his band mates in Stone Temple Pilots? Cobbled together from the current debris of those bands – Talk show consists of STP's DeLeo brothers and Eric Kretz, and new singer Dave Coutts, while the Wellwater Conspiracy features Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron and bassist Ben Shepherd – these new releases provide two significantly different answers to that question.
Talk Show's debut brims with that beefy major-label production sound that we've come to expect from Stone Temple Pilots. The similarities don't end there. Songs like "Ring Twice" chug by on lumbering riffs that are a little too close to those that distinguished early STP hits like "Plush." Coutts' vocals – not including his high-pitched, Lennon-esque whine – aren't too distinct from Weiland's, either. Talk Show do differ from STP in their strained embrace of Beatleisms: While STP were never the most original of bands, the "Strawberry Fields" sound effects on "Behind" and the cloying whimsy of "Everybody Loves My Car" simply grate. The album is not a total wash – guitarist Dean DeLeo adds impressive Zeppelin-ish spirals to "Hello Hello," while the effervescent power pop of "Peeling an Orange" favorably recalls the Raspberries. Still, Talk Show aren't going to make fans forget Stone Temple Pilots. Then again, what do you expect from a band with the same name as a Go-Go's album?
Cameron and Shepherd take an entirely different tack with the Wellwater Conspiracy and fare much better. Released on a tiny indie label, Declaration of Conformity suggests that these Soundgarden expats have left the Seattle sound behind for trippy psychedelia that recalls such '60s freak icons as Syd Barrett and 13th Floor Elevators. Declaration's tinny, fuzzed-out sonics decidedly evoke the Summer of Love – the ace garage punk of "Lucy Leave" and the hallucinogenic instrumental "Far Side of Your Moon" wouldn't be out of place on the Easy Rider soundtrack. Not to be outdone by Talk Show's cultural references, the Wellwater Conspiracy even title a song "Shel Talmy" in tribute to the legendary producer who was responsible for the Kinks' and the Who's distorted '60s rave-ups. It's this playful toying with rock history that artfully erases from Declaration any memory of Soundgarden's Teutonic glumness. Alternative hard rock may not be dead yet, but Cameron and Shepherd might just be the ones to kill it. (Declaration of Conformity is available from Third Gear Records, PO Box 1886, Royal Oak, MI 48068.) (RS 770)
MATT DIEHL
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