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15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Believing In Them, 5 Jun 2004
I bought this album on the strength of the track 'Eggs' on the Rough Trade Counter Culture 2003 comp, 'Eggs' has a goofy (in the very best sense of the word) charm that is hard to resist as do, I'm pleased to say, the songs on this cd ('Eggs' is included here too).For those that don't know, the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players are a rocking family of three making music to accompany real slideshows made up of 'found' slides from Yard Sales and Thrift Shops. Dad plays piano and sings, Mom works the projector and designs the stage outfits and their
9 year old daughter drums, and sings also. Clearly the slide projections don't come across thru' yr speakers but helpfully two of the songs have Quicktime slideshow movies on the enhanced cd (not on the vinyl though, for some reason). The music reminds this listener of The Flaming Lips, Jad Fair, Quasi, The Polyphonic Spree, The Langley Schools Project, The Ben Folds Five (because a lot of the songs are piano led) and They Might Be Giants. The songs, the lyrics of which refer directly to the 'found' slides, are surreal travelogues ('Mountain Trip To Japan, 1959'), cultural critiques ('European Boys, European Boys, European Boys, Looking for sausage') plus a 6 song mini-rock opera based on a McDonalds Financial Report from 1977, which actually works, containing more tunefulness and brevity than any bloated full-length Seventies 'proper' rock opera. Let me make it quite clear, the humour on this album- which is often very funny- is sly and knowing rather than wacky (dread word). What might be viewed as a novelty album reveals itself to be something much more, certainly more subversive than a thousand surly rebel male poser 'garage' bands failing to cop that elusive 'Raw Power' and more POP (say it loud!) than any number of interchangeable witless conveyor belt chart acts. Affected? More than likely, but so what? Affecting? Very. This cd is brimming over with ideas and exuberance. It's GREAT!!!
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