Terrorism, cholesterol, gas prices, recession, cancer, murder, cigarettes, alcohol, car crashes, war; according to these terms, it might seem as if you were living in constant danger every minute of your life.
The media, in recent years, have exploited each of these hot button issues to their fullest extent, using each topic’s shock value as a way to scare their audience into paying attention. War in Iraq, the most notorious crisis within recent years, is discussed and debated in the media daily to evoke anxiety and sell product. Koufax thoughtfully considers and questions all of these every day dangers on its politically-charged, third full-length albbum, “Hard Times Are In Fashion.”
The title alone is the first clue into the serious political intentions behind the album. It’s a risky move, as political-themed songs often struggle to be taken seriously because of the fact that they are often just insincere attempts at intellectual maturity and not genuine attempts at addressing issues.
Once a band content merely singing about the perils of young adulthood, including bad friends, bad parties and bad drugs, Koufax confidently steps into the new territory of civics with this release. The band’s attempt at involving new subject matter in its lyrics is not just brave; it’s surprisingly successful, creating some of its most inspired and innovative material to date.
Songs throughout the album thrive on the basis that their nature is nothing like that of a stereotypical protest ballad but instead relevant personal reflections that aren’t hindered by any outright preaching or bias. “Hard Times Are In Fashion” is fed by the underlying concept of all-encompassing, utter disappointment with the way the world operates.
This theme of disenchantment is conveyed through frustration with the president, “true love” not living up to its reputation and even a general claustrophobia for adulthood’s seeming redundancy. In songs that don’t maintain these political undertones, it’s clear the release is ripe with the passion of idealism and how things should be but not how they really are. In this respect while stylistically and lyrically mature, Koufax is still struggling with its adolescence and coming to terms with how it perceives the “real world.”
The only aspect of the release that is even remotely unambitious is the music. It’s not that songs are tired, boring or even, per se, bad, but they don’t offer anything too different than Koufax’s previous album, “Social life.”
The only noticeable difference is the shift towards a more rock-influenced/guitar driven song structure, one akin to the 60s’ the Velvet Underground and the 80s’ Joe Jackson and Elvis Costello. The pop sensibilities are still maintained, Robert Suchan’s ability to write an equally clever and catchy guitar riff hasn’t changed and even Jared Rosenberg’s knack for caressing the ivories is preserved, but major growth remains to be seen. While the album brings about a certain new innovation in the song’s lyrical approach, it would be refreshing to see Koufax let its songwriting spill through the cracks to reach new ground instead of returning to just doing what’s easy and “safe.”
“Hard Times Are In Fashion” triumphs throughout crafting introspective and cool melodies and lyrics that have the special ability to take sound that’s nostalgic and create with it a new and unique relevancy.
Though, while bold lyrically, it fails to act as the next chapter towards “classic” status in this otherwise pioneering band’s repertoire. If Koufax really wishes to progress any further in music, it might want to first do some more reinvention with its sound. If not, “Hard Times” might be the only thing ahead of them for a long time.
