Everybody's Got It Easy But Me

Reviewed by Hervey Okkles, 7-13-2012

Lars Finberg, drummer of Thee Oh Sees (and also behind the A-Frames) has his garage side project, The Intelligence; this is the latest.

Fun, psychey, lo-fi, retro, high energy garage. It's got a lot for any sort of garage lover.

Check the track details to pick your poison, (I may especially recommend #10, the Del Shannon cover with Shannon (she of Shannon and the Clams), but they're all winners-- a GREAT album.
(FCC on 11.)

1 (4:49) * Dinky casio beat, into driving, sparse, garagey whiney chant. Then a lot of counting. Slowly, dryly. Up to 44. Weird stuff. Like, really really boring. BUT IT KICKS INTO (at about 1:20 left), a Thee Oh Sees high-energy guitars instrumental, loud and strange and awesome.
2 (1:43) ** Mathy guitars, teen rebellion sunshiney garage sound. Slightly Buzzcocksy.
3 (1:48) ** Spiraling guitars, good hooks. Punky, snotty, with drums keeping everything held together. Good hooks, but samey.
4 (2:55) *** Acoustic, wistful folk crooning. Pastoral, in front of mild garage drums. Halfway through, higher energy into a mild instrumental psychedelic realm.
5 (2:17) ** Thrashy duo-vocals, garage all over. Peppy but zombified, chant.
6 (2:43) **** Spooky stabby garage, skeletal bass over chanting ("Reading and writing about partying")
7 (4:05) *** Acoustic guitar joined by maracas or something. Sideways, drunky, cheeky. Kinda a Jonathan Richman feel to this one. But repetitive, by design. Kicks into a full-out garage rocker halfway through, ends with UFO humming for forty seconds.
8 (2:39) *** Slab of garage guitar stabs through, mumbly yelling vocals, math at times. Good hooks, as guitar heads off by itself...
9 (3:37) A little too plodding, a little too dorky.
10 (3:12) ******* Shannon and the Clams frontlady, she of the retro and husky voice, duets on the Del Shannon cover. Backing vocals by Heidi Alexander of the Sandwitches (Earth Girl Helen Brown herself!) and Brigid Dawson of Thee Oh Sees. But god, this is great! That drained-out neo-'60s sound, but perfect harmonies and perfect arrangement-- Shannon can sure as hell sing.
11 (2:59) [FCC - a mumbled "cunt"] Chiming bells, sharp-edged vocal yelping.
12 (6:04) ** Harsh stabbing guitars enter, spooky B-movie effects, howling macabre vocals. Weird and mathy and harsh, (and long!) but a unique and weird end result...
13 (5:47) * Change of pace-- mopey acoustic song, with sad echo of British Invasion-y "oh, oh oh". And THEN a Hammond Organ enters... into a swath of angelic harmony, repeating the same melody...
forever.