On “Otis Redding,” frontman Art Alexakis says, “I don’t want to be wasted.” “Wonderful” makes a strong case against divorce by relating the pain felt by a child. A father’s love for his little girl inhabits two tracks.
Fond recollections of drug and alcohol use appear on “The Honeymoon Song,” “AM Radio” and the title cut. A pair of profanities and a passion for pornography plague “Here We Go Again.” On “Now That It’s Over,” Alexakis angrily tells one of his ex-wives, “You and your friends [can] go to h—” and “Go f— yourself.” He introduces himself to a woman by promising her good sex (“Unemployed Boyfriend”). A young man and his girlfriend get physical “in the green grass behind the stadium” on a remake of Van Morrison’s 1967 hit, “Brown Eyed Girl.” Other problematic elements include a blasphemous use of God’s name and a reference to phone sex.
Subtitled Learning How to Smile, this “volume one” doesn’t give families much to smile about, not the least of which is the fact that volume two may be waiting in the wings. Alexakis seems to have a soft spot for his young daughter. Let’s hope it leads to more lyrics about her delightful laugh and fewer profane, vice-ridden rants.
