Joan of Arc - Joan of Arc, Dick Cheney, Mark Twain

Formed in 1996, Joan Of Arc has long been a part of the Chicago underground. Band members have played in a host of other projects, and collaborators on this release include members of Town And Country, Love Of Everything, Make Believe, Pit Er Pat, Aloha, and Owen. Their sound expands upon the usual tradition of experimentation and gadgetry. It's eccentric yet accessible. Album Description

Better than Britney

My favorite line is "Now I'm convinced that you are from Mars." Better than Britney August 15, 2007

Amazing

I just got this from a friend who works at a radio station. I've never heard this band before, but this is the most unique and interesting disc that's been released this year. This band's usage of off-beat rhythms and staggered arrangements makes for a quirky musical sound (similar to some tracks off of Radiohead's Amnesiac). The vocals have NOT been processed. Fans of digital perfection will be dismayed, but fans of honest exposures of individuality such as Bright Eyes will be touched. Related to the lyrics, I am especially enthused to hear a quiet sound with lyrics that don't all mope about life. The lyrics are philosophical whimsy about living "in this worded world." Standout tracks are the album opener (which is especially good after listening to the last track, then letting your CD player bring you back to the beginning.) Half-Deaf Girl Named Echo is by far the catchiest groove on the disc, and will have you singing into the middle of the night in no time. November 20, 2004

title of review

First song, Questioning Benjamin Franklin's Ghost, is really good. It has this great stop-start piano riff on the chorus. This is much better than anything on either of last years Joan Of Arc albums. Maybe they've finally returned. Track 2, Apocalpse Politics, reminds me of the songs Who's Afraid Of Elizabeth Taylor and Me (Plural) from the album Live In Chicago, 1999. It sounds like an outtake from that album. It's a really great song. Track 3, The Title Track Of This Album, is a super lame piece of non-music. 40 seconds of experimental idm noise, and then 40 seconds of the various band members repeating the album title over and over. Why?. Track 4, Queasy Lynn, is some cabaret lameness. Reminds me of that song Coming Up From Behind or whatever by Two Ton Boa that Marcy Playground covered. Lame. Sneaky music for cartoon badguys. If there's a 5th Home Alone movie an instrumental version of this song should be on the soundtrack. I thought it wasn't Tim singing at first, but I guess he can do two completely different voices now, because I realised halfway through that it actually was him. Track 5, White And Wrong, just sucks. Track 6, Onomatopoepic Animal Faces, is ok and has piano. Track 7, A Half-deaf Girl Named Echo, has lame sounding organ and is just an all around dull and weak song. Track 8, 80s Dance Parties Most Of All, is blah. Track 9, Deep Rush, is two minutes of pointless experimental electronic noisiness. Track 10, Gripped By The Lips, is a good song, but it sounds so much like The Sea And Cake that it's hard to accept as a Joan Of Arc song. Track 12, Abigail Cops And Animals, is bad and doesn't sound like Joan Of Arc at all. Track 13, Still From Miss Kate's Texture Dictionary, fits the same description as Deep Rush. Track 14, The Details Of The Bomb, has piano and is boring me. Track 15, I Trust A Litter Of Kittens Still Keeps The Coloseum, also has piano and sucks. Track 16, The Telephones Have Begun Making Calls, is a stupid, meandering, pointless, experimental non-song. Track 17, The Cash In And Price, is just the band members speaking names of mostly political figures, and then ending with saying "clear channel" a bunch of times. I guess it's a protest against corporations or something. It's pointless and retarded. This album is super mediocre and this band is still dead to me. I like tracks 2, 10, and 1, in that order. The rest I don't care about at all. October 31, 2004

Something different

I used to think Joan of Arc was a bit boring, but this album is really creative. Using alot of random instruments and sounds, its definately an adventure. I think that Sonic Youth's deviance could be too weird, but this ablum stays within the realm of listenability..

Thanks for not doing the same old thing. Its creepy sometimes in a Mercury Rev kind of way, and thats good October 21, 2004

Paint-by-numbers "avant garde"

Tim Kinsella's terrible voice will always be an acquired taste or exercise in patience, but there was a time when Joan of Arc were capable of producing albums that had absolutely nothing to do with conventional pop structure, yet still be interesting. "How Memory Works," and their, uh, masterpiece, "Live in Chicago 1999" are fine examples of being flat-out weird, yet extremely listenable. Sure, it's pretentious, but it was original and somehow intoxicating -- sometimes even beautiful. "Joan of Arc, Dick Cheney, Mark Twain..." is some sort of political statement, I guess, but everything's buried in uninteresting, obtuse avante-rock and electro-pop, and there's not a single standout track, no new ground being broken, and nothing we haven't heard before. Sonic Youth have fallen into the same trap. Kinsella had a good thing going with Owls, 90% due to that guitarist, whatever his name is, and 10% due to his ridiculous free-flowing surrealist lyrics and song titles. Maybe they'll make another album. Until then, stay away from Tim's projects. They only serve to annoy. August 25, 2004

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