the breetles: don't smile. review by alan haber. buhdge

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don't smile the breetles Shuss/No Fault (2004) Is there another pop-rocker having more fun than Chris Breetveld, also known as chief cook and bottlewasher of the Breetles? I doubt it, if the ace music contained on don't smile is any evidence. Mixing message, metaphor, a healthy dose of cynicism and a dollop of smile (despite the title), Breetveld delivers a baker's dozen songs laced with humor and humdingers in concert with the usual band of like-minded cohorts, most notably the ever-fascinating R. Stevie Moore, who wails on lead guitar on the leadoff, hard-rocking, perfect-for-this-election-year "A Clever Combo," the message of which couldn't be missed if it were coming at you at 100 miles per hour ("And the world’s half crazy, and the world’s half lazy, that’s not a clever combo, is it?"). With lyrics like that, it's easy to say that Breetveld wears his heart on his sleeve. Well, what else is there to do? Lord knows he's laying it on the line in "The Class" when he sings, "High school reunions terrify, the creeps of yesterday are your best friends." Come to think of it, Breet has a point there. I mean, have you hung out with any of the losers from your high school years lately? "Lonesome Billy," kind of a straight-ahead, countryish, Gunsmoke-meets-Rocky Racoon story-song with nice, driving acoustic guitar, tells the tale of a wife killed for trying to file for rights to pan for gold, and the sad end she meets for her trouble. It's a great, old-fashioned song, and perhaps my favorite on this album, next to, that is, the complex, time-signatures-be-damned "Cows in Your Brain," the heartwarming story of ugly scum of the earth losers. The emotive, note-bending lead guitar of Chris Bolger is just splendid. The allusions to the Beatles' "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" should not be lost on you. Moore's touching "Play Myself Some Music" is given a tender reading by Breetveld. What music devotee can't relate to this story of a person looking for music to make him feel better after a breakup? The great lyric of all time: "A ballad makes me think of you, a rocker makes me think of us, but silence makes me cry" just about makes me cry. Astounding. Tip o' the hat, RSM. The title track, an astute tip of the hat to the Beach Boys, is a beautifully-arranged prayer of sorts--a plea for you to not lose your head in the world. When Breetveld sings "Settle down, settle deep, try to hear, try to speak, someone who needs for you to say you love them, don’t smile," it's the yin-yang of the Beatles' "Revolution" speaking: try to have it both ways, just in case. So...smile, but don't smile, if you know what I mean. A second, bonus disc is available to purchasers of don't smile, for simply sending a sales receipt to Breet. This motley collection of rehearsals, outtakes and snippets is Breetveld's White Album, if we're talking Jesse White. Dig the band version of "I Only Want to Be With You" and the neat, doo-woppish "L.A.," which has nothing whatsoever to do with the city, and no, I'm not going to tell you what it does have to do with. Oh my. We're lucky to have the Breetles in our lives. Breetveld just keeps getting better and better. Long live the Breet. Alan Haber buhdge September 19, 2004
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don't smile
the breetles
Shuss/No Fault (2004)

the breetles' don't stop Is there another pop-rocker having more fun than Chris Breetveld, also known as chief cook and bottlewasher of the Breetles? I doubt it, if the ace music contained on don't smile is any evidence.

Mixing message, metaphor, a healthy dose of cynicism and a dollop of smile (despite the title), Breetveld delivers a baker's dozen songs laced with humor and humdingers in concert with the usual band of like-minded cohorts, most notably the ever-fascinating R. Stevie Moore, who wails on lead guitar on the leadoff, hard-rocking, perfect-for-this-election-year "A Clever Combo," the message of which couldn't be missed if it were coming at you at 100 miles per hour ("And the world’s half crazy, and the world’s half lazy, that’s not a clever combo, is it?").

With lyrics like that, it's easy to say that Breetveld wears his heart on his sleeve. Well, what else is there to do? Lord knows he's laying it on the line in "The Class" when he sings, "High school reunions terrify, the creeps of yesterday are your best friends." Come to think of it, Breet has a point there. I mean, have you hung out with any of the losers from your high school years lately?

"Lonesome Billy," kind of a straight-ahead, countryish, Gunsmoke-meets-Rocky Racoon story-song with nice, driving acoustic guitar, tells the tale of a wife killed for trying to file for rights to pan for gold, and the sad end she meets for her trouble. It's a great, old-fashioned song, and perhaps my favorite on this album, next to, that is, the complex, time-signatures-be-damned "Cows in Your Brain," the heartwarming story of ugly scum of the earth losers. The emotive, note-bending lead guitar of Chris Bolger is just splendid. The allusions to the Beatles' "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" should not be lost on you.

Moore's touching "Play Myself Some Music" is given a tender reading by Breetveld. What music devotee can't relate to this story of a person looking for music to make him feel better after a breakup? The great lyric of all time: "A ballad makes me think of you, a rocker makes me think of us, but silence makes me cry" just about makes me cry. Astounding. Tip o' the hat, RSM.

The title track, an astute tip of the hat to the Beach Boys, is a beautifully-arranged prayer of sorts--a plea for you to not lose your head in the world. When Breetveld sings "Settle down, settle deep, try to hear, try to speak, someone who needs for you to say you love them, don’t smile," it's the yin-yang of the Beatles' "Revolution" speaking: try to have it both ways, just in case. So...smile, but don't smile, if you know what I mean.

A second, bonus disc is available to purchasers of don't smile, for simply sending a sales receipt to Breet. This motley collection of rehearsals, outtakes and snippets is Breetveld's White Album, if we're talking Jesse White. Dig the band version of "I Only Want to Be With You" and the neat, doo-woppish "L.A.," which has nothing whatsoever to do with the city, and no, I'm not going to tell you what it does have to do with. Oh my.

We're lucky to have the Breetles in our lives. Breetveld just keeps getting better and better. Long live the Breet.

Alan Haber
buhdge
September 19, 2004