Roll me like a dollar bill4 Out Of 5 Stars
Aimee Mann does something of a return to form after the concept album of "The Forgotten Arm" as she spends a rueful 13 songs that take aim at the "@#%&;*! Smilers" of the world. It's a collection of piano driven songs made alive by Mann's voice, tying the observations together. It's a collection of songs this time minus a concept, with Mann's snarky worldview punctuated by horns ("Borrowing Time") a new wavish recall of her 80's days ("Freeway") and a woozy barroom duet with Sean Hayes ("Ballantines"). While nothing here pops (in fact, my sole complaint is that the sound of the album tends to the homogenous side), every song unfolds its charm after repeated plays.
That is usually the case with most Mann albums, since she's more an accomplished lyricist than rocker. Subtlety is her biggest strength, and that is on full display on "Smilers." She gets that life is a series of often confusing and confused people in relationships that reflect that confusedness. On "31 Today," she wonders why her life isn't better than the way it's turned out as a new decade of life begins. Or how the disconnected junkie who comes to California to turn over a new leaf in "Freeway" is unknowingly walking into the lion's den. Then there's the fighting couple in "Medicine Wheel" who could have come straight out of "The Forgotten Arm's" codependent pairing.
It's those kind of characters and the consistency of Mann's albums that makes the curse of the CD's title something of an inside joke. The album is smoother than most of her regular work, and there's nothing angry more than grousing. "@#%;*! Smilers" delivers what Mann's fans have come to expect per albums like "I'm With Stupid" and "Lost In Space," and that's excellent songwriting with pleasures that grow thw more you lat the album play through the days.
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