Various Artists
Fleetwood Mac: Patron Saints of Pop
Undercover Records, PO Box 14561, Portland OR 97293 mnkyshine@aol.com
Release Date: October 21, 1997
The whim-cycle of pop music has rolled back around to the spoke with the chiffon scarf tied to it. Fleetwood Mac: Patron Saints of Pop updates the polyester excess of those 70s icons with as much grace as indie grit. There may be nothing like the real thing -- and with the Mac back on tour, it's out there -- but since the original was all about glossy hooks and shiny surfaces, this tribute is a welcome look at the sturdy structure underneath.
The tracks range from atmospheric sheen (Varnaline's version of "Albatross") to over-the-top spectacle ("Tusk" as played by members of Six Finger Satellite, Come, et. al. on their high school band instruments). Some of the old favorites are here, each piece dismantled and scrubbed with a wire brush. "Gypsy" is re-envisioned as a plucky tumbler with plenty of sound effects by NYC's Home, while Faster Tiger's version of "The Chain" stirs up choppier waters than Fleetwood, McVie & Associates cared to dare.
Semisweet's saucy blast exposes "Go Your Own Way" as the kiss-off it always was. And even less flamboyant tunes like "Dust," played by $50 Bucks in a chord so minor it should be sent to reform school, lay bare the real wood under the plastic paneling. Guilty pleasures such as "Never Make Me Cry" as Austin swing and "Gold Dust Woman" as inbred twang pay homage to classic Fleetwood Mac's stability of craft (as opposed to that of their mental health, emotional well-being, or lest we forget, their sobriety or their marriages) by how well they hold up under the strain of the genre bait-and-switch.
Whether you admit it in public or not, few people can resist a good Mac tune. The one-two punch of sweet melody and sour emotion is as addictive as a Super Jawbreaker. And after the brainwash of these 12 tracks subsides, you may just jam a rose behind your ear, dig out the flowiest piece of clothing you own and believe you can be Stevie Nicks.
-- Lindy Powell
powell@outersound.com
