“Killing Some Dead Time”

Libido

“Killing Some Dead Time” is the respectable debut album from Libido, a trio of performers from Bergen, Norway, whose specialty (aside from making lutefisk look colorful in comparison) is the atmospheric rock/pop ballad, a la The Verve, Radiohead and (the band which Libido copies most closely) Oasis.

As Oasis patterned themselves after the Beatles, so Libido seems to have patterned themselves after Oasis. So we are looking at a second generation copy, and these things do have a tendency to deteriorate over time.

Still, it isn’t ALL bad. Really. The initial track, “Overthrown,” is actually pretty original. The chorus “here she comes/ here she comes/ here she comes…” seems to be a direct response to The Las 1990, MTV quasi-hit, “There she goes”, and it’s chorus “there she goes/ there she goes again…”

What’s that? You don’t remember The Las? That’s okay — if you ever hear this album, you won’t remember it either. It isn’t bad, it just isn’t great.

I listened to it over and over again trying to get a feel for it, and it was like trying to play catch with a water balloon dipped in baby oil. After a while, it was just easier to give up.

This is not to say the album doesn’t have some good points. Track five, “In My Shadow,” is a trippy little tune which represents the album’s harder side. It isn’t too bad at all, kind of like The Church meets The Pixies with a twist of Oasis thrown in to make it sound current in that “we’re copying this from everybody else” sort of way.

“Magic Mushroom Night” closes the album, doing it’s all-fired best to answer the age-old question which has dogged philosophers and stoners alike: What if R.E.M. and The Dream Academy had done an album together?

Overall, I’m just not too impressed. I didn’t hate it. I just didn’t care.

3 stars out of five

—Greg Jerrett

“Eighteen Over Me”

“24-7”

Garrison Starr

Garrison Starr’s debut release “Eighteen Over Me” introduces an amazing new talent from the Memphis coffeehouse scene who could definitely be the female vocalist to keep your eye on.

Starr’s style is reminiscent of the Indigo Girls’ earlier efforts, without being derivative. Her music is a blend of roots rock, pop and folk, which has been developed over years of touring and playing small venues throughout the South. (Starr was a veteran of the road by the age of 20.) This summer she will be playing on the Lilith Fair tour.

Her music speaks to both men and women (with a slightly greater nod to the ladies) about the angst and joy of youth. Whose music doesn’t, right? The difference in Starr’s case is that she does it well, with immense sincerity and amazing confidence, especially for her age.

The first time you hear “Superhero,” you cannot help but be deeply impressed. Starr has a quality of innocence and passion that just could not be faked. You can hear it in the emotion she displays during the plaintive chorus which compares the thrill of being on stage to the kind of excitement you can only feel in childhood:

“We are ten years old/ We are holding our breath under water/ Our eardrums are bursting from the pressure/ I don’t ever wanna leave the stage/ I am a superhero/ I don’t ever want to leave my age/ I am a superhero.”

Starr’s first love is performing live, and her new release, “24-7,” is a collection of live recordings, acoustic versions and B-sides that will not disappoint either the hard-core fan or the first-time listener. Included in the collection is an acoustic version of “Superhero” which is, if anything, even more beguiling than the original.

A studio version of the Beatle’s “Taxman” is also included. This is an apparent favorite of Starr’s; it has been on the tour’s play list for some time. Starr’s interpretation has a more electronic and modern feel that loses none of the original’s humor.

The acoustic version of “Grounded” is a soul-filled track about child abuse that still manages to be very sweet without losing any of the poignancy of the subject matter. It’s songs like this that make this CD worth listening to.

4 stars out of five

—Greg Jerrett