Certainly the opening track certainly indicates that good things are to come. ‘Hanginaround’ is an extremely catchy pop song. A friendly melody and a happy beat are the key ingredients- so nothing too special, but a good listen nonetheless. Following on is ‘Mrs Potter’s Lullaby’. This rambling, introspective piece is an obvious contrast to the snappy, neatly packaged piece that preceded it. It also has the same catchy feel. These two tracks, placed side by side, complement eachother.
This Desert Life then changes moods. ‘Amy Hit the Atmosphere’ is moody and melancholic- almost like a dirge- as it takes its slow, almost depressing steps. ‘Four Steps’ is the obvious companion to ‘Hanginaround’: perhaps they were doing a 2-for-1 sale at the Pop Factory. Following on is (the autobiographical?) ‘All My Friends’, another introspective work, telling a tale of a wasted life. “Now I’m thirty-three,” Adam Duritz laments, but “All my friends and lovers leave me behind.” And thus concludes Side A, a really good blend of music and mood.
Side B opens with ‘High Life’. It continues in the same reflective, melancholic vein, and yet there is an obvious diminution in quality. Not sizeable, but still obvious. Unfortunately, ‘Colorblind’ continues this trend. This time singer-songwriter Duritz (he wrote/co-wrote all ten tracks) seems to take his soulful contemplation too far. Whereas before his cure seemed to be a healthy dose of ‘love and life’, now you get the feeling that what he most needs is to take a couple of laxatives and get it over with.
The album concludes inauspiciously. ‘I Wish I was a Girl’ is like ‘High Life’- a decent song, but nothing special. And the same goes for ‘Speedway’ and ‘St. Robinson in His Cadillac Dream’.
So This Desert Life really is an album of two contrasting halves. The first side is clever, enjoyable and captivating. The second, while by no means bad, is just average. This mediocrity is made more obvious by the fact that it follows on from a collection of intelligent, thoughtful songs. This sort of record is always frustrating to listen to. Does one give credit for the good, or criticism for the bad? Is the glass half full or half empty? It’s very difficult to tell.
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