Sam Phillips - Martinis & Bikinis

With Martinis & Bikinis, Sam Phillips has revitalized the "Beatlesque" category with some substantial songwriting and a woman's voice, which turns the whole sound upside down. The Beatles hardly exhausted the possibilities of their late-'60s sound, and Phillips has the hooks and aphorisms to give that sound a second lease on life. Phillips has rewritten two old Beatles songs into "Strawberry Road" and "Same Rain"; she has even recorded a John Lennon composition, "Gimme Some Truth." Phillips's husband, T-Bone Burnett, cowrote two of the songs and produced all 13, and he adds the Lennonesque touches of guitars recorded backward and sweet harmonized vocals pitted against distorted guitars. But none of this would matter if the songs weren't so good. --Geoffrey Himes Amazon.com

Great Beatles inspired Brit-pop

Excellent Beatles-esque pop tunes with catchy hooks and a decent amount of variety. Phillips has an interesting voice and the musicianship on the album is fantastic (Colin Moulding's pop bass lines are worth the price of the album alone). Definitely underrated (the only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is that the last couple songs at end of the album are a bit weak). March 14, 2007

Fantastic

This is a great album. I can't add much to what the rest of the reviewers here have said. It's rich, smart, and beautifully produced. My favorite Sam Phillips album. Get it! I'd be surprised if you don't like it. August 22, 2006

Sam Phillips' finest album and genuine "Revolver-esque" classic.

One of the best and most vital records of 1994, Phillips' third mainstream rock-pop album (formerly billed as "Leslie Phillips", she was a Christian music star in the 1980s) is less a prosaic collection of songs than an organic stream of incantations and revelations from the Otherworld. Many commentators have remarked on M&B's debt to the Beatles, and there are certainly some musical echoes of the Fabs: the "She's A Woman" strums of "Signposts"; the homage of "Strawberry Road" (based on an Iroquois belief); the cover of Lennon's "Gimme Some truth"; the harpsichords, multitracked harmonies, slicing guitar riffs, and Indian drums. But Phillips is no pale imitator. She works subliminally, her oblique lyrics tweaking at the edges of consciousness. Her strongest link with the moptops, in truth, is a shared ethos of belief in the value and power of love, and of the wisdom in 'holding on to the voice inside you" amid the blare of a corrupted society. Like an Old Testament prophet, Phillips rails against the ills of the world -- greed, deceit, oppression -- using an elliptical imagery that is more surreal than overtly political. Her songs are striking in their melodic nuances as well. She employs instruments and vocals with the craft of a painter, assembling glorious guitar pop ("I Need Love") alongside thunderous Indian raga ("Baby I Can't Please You", a shout against her former fundamentalist string-pullers), disturbing nightmares ("Black Sky," "Wheel of the Broken Voice"), and triumphant epiphanies ("When I Fall"). Martinis & Bikinis' predecessors (The Indescribable Wow; Cruel Inventions) were also impressive, but this offering, with harder-edged production by then-husband T Bone Burnett, is simply relentless. Sam Phillips at the height of her form. September 16, 2005

Disappointing

After the other good reviews, I was really disappointed. There are some good songs. But there are some really obnoxious songs too. Figure on half a CD's worth of good music. May 23, 2005

Beauty and the Truth

At the release of "Martinis and Bikinis", Sam Phillips had made a name for herself as an insightful, poetic artist with interesting, fresh music. Critics loved her, but unfortunately, she was grossly ignored by radio. This is a very fun and thought provoking release, more upbeat music than her previous two releases. "Baby I Can't Please You" is probably the most radio-friendly song on here and who can't relate to the lyrics, "You take the words I say and make them mean everything they don't, baby you're obscene. You don't listen you don't hear you're blinded by the fear that surrounds you." I enjoyed "Same Rain" which states, "Is it the same rain that falls on a holy man, is it the same rain that falls on a liar's hand, is it the same rain that falls on me?" Even though "Signposts" is a short song, I love it for her having the guts to honestly tell why she left Christian music for secular music, "I wanted to get lost and love the questions there, beauty and the truth, I could breathe like air." I absolutely love the Phillips/T Bone Burnett song "Same Changes" and I might be the only to say this, I LOVE the song "Black Sky", because it is so different, eclectic, and has a powerful message about our human greed for money and our lack of concern for the health of the earth in the process. It's kind of a doomsday song and the music is so fitting... it's just something you would have to hear for yourself to appreciate. I just can't praise this disc enough... a very strong release!! June 9, 2003

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