Disc 003 - Metal Molly - Surgery for Zebra

The Disc: Hailing from Belgium, the mythical land that gave us such brilliant artists as Django Reinhardt, K's Choice, and Eric Clapton*, Metal Molly were (or sometimes are according to some sources) a 90's alternative rock trio who eschewed lyrical content for... well, funny-sounding English words that sort of rhymed. Surgery for Zebra, their first album, was released in 1996. They then split up the following year, only to reform in 2000 and deliver a second album, The Golden Country. Surgery, however, seems to be the one that garnered them what little attention they received stateside.

Oh, yeah. It's also got a dude in a gas mask on the cover. So, that's a plus.

My Copy's Origins: I don't know about anyone else, but for me in the mid-90's, the place to be on Sunday nights at midnight was watching MTV's 120 Minutes with Matt Pinfield. Well, actually, the place for me to be on Sunday nights at midnight was in bed, because I had to get up for school in the morning. But the VCR timer was set to record, and then I'd watch it when I got home on Monday afternoon.

I'd listen for hours (two to be exact) while Matt Pinfield made esoteric connections between Stephen Malkmus and former Egyptian UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali. I'd watch excitedly to see what 1970's British punk band's cover version of a classic folk tune Tim Armstrong had requested they play. I'd wait anxiously for the second hour when Stabbing Westward was set to perform "What Do I Have to Do?" live in an empty soundstage.

But mostly, I watched for the new videos. Most of these clips would never make it into rotation during daylight hours. Some of them might never even feature again on the show. It was like they'd barely clawed their way out of the pit of obscurity to peek their heads out and be seen for a brief 3 minutes, only to lose their grip and fall back to the bottom of the chasm immediately after. Metal Molly did exactly that with their video for the single, "Orange."

Not bad if you like toy accordions and aren't easily nauseated by slowly spinning cameras. Apparently, I enjoyed it and didn't throw up because soon after I hitched a ride down to the Compact Disc Center in Bethlehem to scour the used CD racks where, luckily enough, I found it.

To Toss: Maybe "luckily enough" wasn't the right phrase. I think I better start with the positives...

Not To Toss: This record was produced marginally well. The guitar sounds pretty thin, even when distorted, and there are no "wow-that-sounded-cool-let-me-rewind-it" moments, but its sonic quality is average at worst. There are a few decent melodies and an occasional harmony to match. The disc even contains some nice instrumentation choices at times.

For instance, the organ solo that opens the album adds some nice texture to the music. It's unfortunate that that organ is never heard again after "Flipper" kicks in. Another nice touch is the small Salvation Army Band-type ensemble that marches out of earshot at the end of "Poolbell." Sadly, these highlights are simply intros and codas, and can't save the songs they prefix or suffix.

Of course, there's the snazzy bassline to "Orange" that first enticed me to purchase. Plus, the little lead guitar blips in "PVC" are very minor thrills.

Can you tell I'm grasping at straws here? Okay, let's get down to business...

To Toss (Take Two): Remember back in the early days of rock n' roll when bands were forced by their label to re-record track lyrics in foreign languages so they could appeal to a larger international audience? Heck, The Beatles even did it. Twice. I always wondered who did the translations and how good they were. I mean, how often was the lyrical content sacrificed for the sake of fixing the rhyme in another language and vice-versa? Some things must have been lost in translation.

Part of me hopes that happened on a much larger scale to the lyrics of Surgery for Zebra. Now, I'd like to think I'm not all that picky when it comes to lyrical content. After all, I do own several Wings albums, so I can handle style over substance. I'll even let a few cheap rhymes slide enough to pull out my copy of Coldplay's X&Y from time to time. But...

"I've got a bad case of chronic pneumonia.
There is a picture in me as well.
I've lost my first case of chronic amnesia.
What's my surname? I just can't tell..."

-"Flipper"

"Poolbell.
Candy.
Wish well.
Trendy."

-"Poolbell"

As much as I want to believe these lines were more meaningful in the original Dutch, my instincts tell me they were never written in Dutch, and the band's lead singer, Pascal Deweze instead relied heavily on the English rhyming dictionary his grootmoeder bought him for Whit Monday.

As a tribute to that event, he seems to have written this little classic:

"Wish I had a place where I could dweep.
They say that I'm an isolated creep.
Monday is queer.
So sincere.
Wish she was here.
Monday is queer.

Water shakes my knees.
Here's a strange disease.
Won't you help me please?"

-"Monday Is Queer"

I won't go on. Nonsense like this is worth listening to if there's a pretense of lyrical depth around it. Here, it's just random words that share similar final vowel and consonant sounds. Maybe this is that rare occasion in all of human history where putting these songs in the band's native tongue would actually cause something to be gained in translation.

The Verdict: Part of me resists tossing this out of fear that I may one day want to listen to "Superskunk" or the brief sound collage "60,000 Brill Buildings and Rising." Or maybe it's just that I haven't tossed one yet. Well, enough hesitation.

Surgery is getting tossed.

*Some critics still debate whether or not Eric Clapton was actually from Belgium or just liked to vacation there during the rainy season.