WET FORESTS

Strange Days
Yeah, success'll turn your head like that. The cock is still in cocksure, but the sure's a little shaky, and it sounds good.

You're Lost Little Girl
The forgettable stuff here is more memorable than the forgettable stuff on the first album. I guess Sinatra never did get around to covering this one...

Love Me Two Times
Chugs along nicely, and that guitar's got some sproing in it. The sound of the singer trying just hard enough...

Unhappy Girl
Another girl song, huh? As tired as that may be, it is nice the way the water theme is introduced (Don't miss your chance/To swim in mystery), and how that carries through the next two pieces.

Horse Latitudes
Normally I wouldn't countenance this kind of thing, but some of the imagery is actually pretty interesting ("In mute nostril agony/carefully refined/and sealed over" is an evocative portrait of a drowning horse). Plus-- and I can't stress this enough ye future writers/performers of song poems--it's short. If you find yourself in a situation like this, say your piece in 1:30 and please move on...

Moonlight Drive
Definitely a top fiver in the oeuvre, this one is pretty much unassailable. And just like Horse Latitudes, it ends with a drowning. Seek out the demo to hear how much it benefited from maturation of vision/sympathetic production.

People are Strange
And now we resurface for a return to the strange. There is something to be said for consistency of vision, especially when it's as sharp as this.

My Eyes Have Seen You
An underappreciated gem. I love the way the first five words become one: Myeyeshaveseenyou. And how the song speaks to the power of simple repetition: Endless roll, endless roll, endless roll, endless roll...

I Can't See Your Face in My Mind
Filler. But again, unlike some of the filler on the first one, this is at least of a piece with the rest of the album.

When the Music's Over
But alas, as with the first album, we close with an "epic" that would have been much better served by some judicious editing. Could've been a five-minute song about music being your only friend, goth kids could've latched onto it as a manifesto 15 years later, and black would be the new blue. Instead, it's bogged down by what appear to be snippets from three or four unrelated poems, an exhortation to "revolution," and some Jesus stuff. Huh?