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Angry Salad
Angry Salad - Angry Salad
Blackbird/Atlantic
1999 – Pop
 Opening with the radio-ready John Mellencamp-meets-The Four Seasons jumpy
jam of “The Milkshake Song,” Brown University’s most pop-ular alums bounce
through a mostly upbeat set of toe-tappers which draw familiarly from old
faves. After an unassuming piano intro, the eerily provocative “How Does
It Feel To Kill” revvs into a guitar attack straight from “Detroit Rock
City” before slapping into a midwestern crunch. Similarly, “Rico” opens
gently before picking up some intensity and “Scared of Highways” pairs a
sharp rhythm with smoothly anxious lyrics. Though named for (and briefly
mentioning) a favorite boyhood toy, “Stretch Armstrong” is more a gently
Cure-d Counting Crowes-y roller about break-ups with a lyrical nod to Kris
Kristofferson. Taking the cover idea to an illogical conclusion, Angry
Salad tries their capable (and, at times, comical) hand at the bilingual
80’s popper “99 Luft (Red) Ballo(o)n(s).” Salad’s strong storytelling is
demonstrated in “Saturday Girl,” a gently stroking tale of depression and
“Cuckoo’s Nest” resistance, and in “Coming To Grips,” a subtle story of
Cindy Oleo, the neighborhood lesbian and “margarine girl.” “The author of
the book of love…never wrote a chapter about this” vocalist Bob Whelan
notes before paraphrasing again (this time, Joe Jackson). Closing out the
eponymous debut is the cracked and sprawling six-minute send-off “Red
Cloud,” a long low end to a catchy and cleverly current collection.
- Matthew S. Robinson
© 1999 M. S. Robinson, ARR
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