Fits The Bill

Bill

The effects of the incorporation of alternative music into the mainstream can be seen not only in fashion and trend-tapping beer commercials ("Drink Bud Dry if you're thirsty/Don't if you're not"), but also in the music of up-and-coming bands like Tripping Daisy. Bill, TD's debut album, is alternative not in the sense of being part of a groundbreaking flip side to pop culture, but as part of a new and newly exploited commercial version of this flip side. But hey, if it sounds good, who really cares; Tripping Daisy is sure to appeal to a number of listeners to whom it will sound pleasantly familiar, and is a competent exercise in the recording and marketing of alternative music.

The album opens with "My Umbrella," a single which has gained substantial air-time on--you guessed it--alternative stations. The tune has the strong bass essential to alternative songs ranging from L7's "Pretend That We're Dead" to the Spin Doctors' "Two Princes," and features a catchy, somewhat inane, chorus: "Don't let your love/Fall on down on my umbrella." The guitar riffs are well executed if a tad typical, and singer Tim DeLaughter intones the lyrics with the prescribed amount of nasality. The song is entertaining, and "One Through Four" and "Blown Away" follow in the same vein, driven by the omnipresent bass.

Tripping Daisy reaches a little further with "Change of Mind," which features a nice guitar line to open the song, and a semi-psychedelic, echoing quality to DeLaughter's vocals. The chorus harmonies add a lilting sound to the song, which fits surprisingly well with the underlying guitar, and only the occasionally stupid lyrics ("Little Jack Horner sitting in a corner") get in the way of enjoying the song.

Perhaps this silliness/stupidity is TrippingDaisy's take on alternativity, for the albumcertainly has its share of silly moments. "Milesand Miles of Pain" recalls Guns N Roses' "NovemberRain," with its overwrought, whiny vocals. "TheMorning," an instrumental piece apparently meantto showcase the group's ecological awareness, ismarred by annoying overlaid spoken vocals whichdetract from the simple tune. Yet goofiness atleast gives the band a sense of humordistinguishing it from similar bands; be sure tolisten to the extra piece nine minutes after theend of the last tune, which is crude and strange,but certainly funny.

Although Bill may not offer an"alternative" to currently available music, thealbum is an often driven testament to the presentcult of commercial grunge. Tripping Daisy lives upto this movement's standards, and their fluffydebut is still a largely enjoyable collection ofmusic