Fred Schneider - Bulldozer
There is only one Fred Schneider. Sure, there are some obnoxious nerds who do humorous impersonations *raises hand, waves furiously*, but if a record came out with someone singing like Fred Schneider, I imagine it would be roundly mocked. I say "imagine", because honestly, it's hard to picture such a scenario.
If you think about it, that puts him in pretty unique standing. Ironically, as widely imitated as he is, he's probably as inimitable as any front person in the history of pop music.
Of course, when we think of him, we think of the B-52's party punk sound and fun music. It's hard to imagine that -overcaffeinated beat poet in a dancin' mood- sound of his over anything besides the quirky Athenians. But Schneider's human, and an artist, what if he started writing some lyrics that strayed a little darker? What if he got in touch with a guy like Steve Albini, who, like any good punk journalist in the early 80's, was a fan and admirer of Schneider's work?
You'd get Just Fred, Schneider's 1996 solo record, which set that unique party-time voice to a darker, heavier rock sound. Schneider recruited a few accomplished songwriters to help him hash his words into music, and a few Albini-recorded alumnus came in to play on the record. Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet play on three songs, Six Finger Satellite plays on two, then the remaining six songs, including this one, are handled by an assemblage of musicians going by Deadly Cupcake, (which is actually Russel Simins of Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Rick Simms of The Didjits and at the time of this recording, I believe, the Supersuckers, and Tom Zaluckyj of Tar).
The results kind of speak for themselves, and gave, me at least, a whole new perspective on Schneider. - MO