Eliza Doolittle - 'Pack Up'
When it comes to cartoons, you're either a Disney Person or a Warner Brothers Person.
If you're into Disney, what you like is a direct hit of emotion, from characters who are as real as it is possible to be, given their cartoon nature. You might be attended to by a talking candlestick, you might live with dwarves, but you're a human with human proportions, and when you are in love, it's forever. And musically, you want songs which sound like proper songs, sung by real humans, about the emotions your characters are experiencing.
If you're into Warner Brothers (or, for the sake of this argument, Tom & Jerry), you want spectacle, ideas, thrills. You want madcap plans which can only end in disaster. You want silly voices, silly animals, people who don't look much like people. And never mind love - unless it involves a man in drag, throbbing hearts flying out of eyes, steam escaping from ears, facial reddening, drooling and someone howling like a wolf - what you want is to watch the scheming of rotten swine who only have one goal in life - to eat a speeding prairie bird, to catch a mouse, or shoot a smart-alec rabbit.
And for your musical thrills, you like unusual sounds, funny sounds, designed to make your life seem extra zingy. You want spiralling xylophones, parping brass, a vibraslap, a duck-call, that kind of thing.
Eliza Doolittle is clearly not that much of a Disney person.*
(No video, for reasons that will become clear.)
Her last single 'Skinny Genes' had that muffly whistle refrain going on, which transformed an otherwise quiet, pretty Corinne Bailey Rae kind of a thing into a cartoon wonderland, as if Eliza was bowling along with Yosemite Sam on one side and Wile E. Coyote on the other.
This has the same thing, only instead of a whistle there's a man singing in a ripe voice about packing your troubles in an old kit bag, and then doing song scat singing. The music is kinda fruity too. Flatulent brass, sparkly xylophone, sleazy saxophone and swooping strings. It's a very self-consciously 1940s sort of sound, only with a bit of swearing so we know we are no longer in the ra of the zoot suit.
Eliza even has a little breakdown moment where she sings "tweet-tweet" just like Tweety Pie would if he (she? So hard to tell sometimes) wasn't constantly lisping on about that puddy tat.
What it lacks in emotional intensity it makes up for in silliness, is what I am saying.
Normally I would be ALL FOR this. Emotional intensity is great, it's the bedrock of 94% of all music, according to a survey I made up just then, but it tends to miss the moments in life when you just want to giggle at something daft.
However, despite the cussing and the attempt to bring a life lesson to proceedings, this it just a little too sugary and twee for me. Or not sugary and twee enough. One of the two.
And I don't mean the kind of twee that Elmer Fudd would climb up in order to lay a trap for Bugs Bunny.
Download: Out now
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Music page
(Fraser McAlpine)
"Pack-Up delves into a funky two-step jive that is simply leg convulsing."
"Blissful melodies that will have you humming and whistling for some time after...even after only listening to the record once."
"'Pack Up' boldly raids the chorus of the George Henry Powell marching song 'Pack Up Your Troubles In Your Old Kit Bag' and repurposes it to startling effect."
* It's just a theory, and a massively generalised one at that. It's perfectly possible to love both, just as it's possible to love both dogs and cats, or baths and showers, or John and Edwar...oh.
Comment number 1.
At 1st Jul 2010, CurtainJerker wrote:Turns out that Tom & Jerry were actually MGM characters (along with Droopy and Barney Bear), rather than Warner Bros.
I get what you mean though, and I am most definitely on the Warner Bros/MGM side of things.
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Comment number 2.
At 1st Jul 2010, Fraser McAlpine - wrote:Yeah, the legend "Directed By Fred Quimby" is burned across my brain from childhood. My point being those are the two schools of animation. Probably could've been clearer there. Sorry!
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Comment number 3.
At 1st Jul 2010, RandomEnigma wrote:I don't really like this song at all. Eliza Doolittle is yet another one of those chirpy 'kooky' singer-songwriter types that just sound so contrived -expect this to come to an Apple ad near you.
I hate the "tweet tweet" part but I like the chorus sang by George Asaf. It was an old World War I chant you know? Perhaps Eliza is subliminally telling us all to join the army? I feel like lots of pop songs have conspiracy theories behind them these days (although I'm not a member of the Illuminati crowd), don't worry! :)
YMRA EHT NIOJ!
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Comment number 4.
At 1st Jul 2010, OddOne wrote:Brillianr little review there, Randy. I also think this song would be passable if it weren't for the 'tweet tweet' part.
And yes, George Asaf's part is the only thing drawing me to it. But I didn't know it was a WWI... hmm learn something new ever day!
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Comment number 5.
At 4th Jul 2010, TomAndrew wrote:Eliza Doolittle's new single, for me, is the musical representation of one word. Indie. This is a really strange, weird song which has no obvious genre references. However, this is oddness brings a real sense unique sounds and beats-something that the current chart is lacking. I wouldn't say this has the guts to get to #1, but I would definitely say it could easily creep into the top 40, or even 20, with its feel good swing.
***
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Comment number 6.
At 16th Jul 2010, Jordananan wrote:I literally cannot stop listening to this song, it really embodies the summer for me, I didn't really know what to think of it at first, but it has crept up on me and I can't shake it off.
4 stars.
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Comment number 7.
At 18th Jul 2010, spirit wrote:Her album will enter the top 5 in a short time and be the highest new entry .
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Comment number 8.
At 21st Jul 2010, Alex in Blunderland wrote:Hi RandomEnigma, Without wanting to sound a geek, just wanted to highlight that the chorus isn't sung by George Asaf. George Asaf was the lyricist for "Pack up your troubles in your old kitbag". He used it as a pseudonym but his real name was George Henry Powell and his brother was the composer Felix Powell, a British Staff Sergeant who wrote it for a WWI competition for "best morale-building song" wining 1st prize. Just finished some research on it by coincidence. By the way, loving the song. Embedded in my head like a tune-worm.
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Comment number 9.
At 21st Jul 2010, spirit wrote:If memory serves , the guy that sings the sample here , is a former reality tv programme singer . I have heard his fantastic voice somewhere before .
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Comment number 10.
At 21st Jul 2010, OddOne wrote:Must've been that Excrament Factor...
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