My Own Worst Enemy
No Guarantees
© 2003 Bipolar Express BMI (747728894220)
CD IN STOCK. ORDER NOW. Will ship immediately.
Dynamic, heart-on-your-sleeve female-fronted pop/rock featuring overdriven & jangling twin guitars, innovative drumming and strong, passionate vocals
tracks
- 1 Who Knew
- 2 Mia
- 3 Why Not Beautiful
- 4 Poison
- 5 Late Show
- 6 Hey Hey Sunshine
- 7 Finally
- 8 Not the One
- 9 Throw It All Away
- 10 Never Talking to You Again
- 11 Mr Leatherboots
- 12 Yearbook
- 13 Pills & Pride
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notes
"huge drums by john, passionate vocals by sue and steve, guitars ranging from buzzsaw to beautiful."
- pete weiss/producer: moe tucker, chris brokaw, vic chessnut
"...belongs on every college radio station playlist in the western world."
- francis dimenno/noise magazine
the second full-length record from my own worst enemy is garnering support. no guarantees (elis eil records) is a sublime sound cocktail with shots of versatility, passion and honesty that resonate through the vocals, guitars and drums and permeate every lyrical syllable. one listen just won't do: this record demands your attention over time. its songs will sink into your brain and, hopefully, your heart.
if conformist cookie-cutter music is what you're after, then you'd best head for the door and demand a refund on the cover charge. and if overblown, self-indulgent guitar soloing is your thing...ditto.
aptly described by rock author and critic, joe s. harrington (sonic cool, magnet, new york press), as the embodiment of "emotional realism," my own worst enemy is what it is - no mystery, no pretense, no apologies.
the press has sonically linked mowe to such trailblazers as patti smith and neil young and to more modern indie deities like throwing muses, the feelies and barbara manning.
mowe's sound slips-on the fabric of rock, pop and even the blues, but it is always sewn with a punk thread. this band want to connect with you.
sue sings with the urgency of a last will and testament written on a death bed, lyrically rewarding those who've been kind and disowning the rest.
steve beats on his guitar like he would a childhood bully on a trip back in time - swinging from powerful rhythm to punchout bass-ish knocks - and somehow evokes cries of beauty from it.
john hammers home mowe's alternately spiteful and sweet sentiments, pummeling or beguiling the songs into submission.
the cumulative result is music rooted in feeling, not formula; music that awakes multiple senses and satisfies them all.
reviews
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- author: Francis DiMenno/The Noise
Too often, between a first demo, a first EP, and a first full-length release, some intangible quality which helps to make a band great gets lost or misplaced in the mix. This happened to Throwing Muses and The Pixies. My Own Worst Enemy, on the other hand, has made the same transition with grace and aplomb. The older material is kickass as always: "Who Knew" is akin to "Roadrunner" fronted by a sloe-eyed chanteuse; "MIA" is like electroshock that makes you smarter. Delicately bleak and lovely ballads like "Why Not Beautiful," "Pills and Pride," and the superb "Late Show" vary the pace. "Poison" is a nascent classic with a desolately lively feel right up there with Human Switchboard; ditto the downright catchy dirge-cum-drunken-chantey "(I'm the One You Wanted) Not the One (You Got)." This isn't a perfect CD, but even interesting experiments like the quaintly odd "Mr. Leatherboots," overproduced declamations like "Throw It All Away" and the dynamic but misguided power-pop cover of "Never Talking to You" are ambitious efforts. And the CD's craziest song, "Yearbook," with its start and stop dynamic and inspired xylophone obbligatos, belongs on every college radio station playlist in the Western world.