Reviews

I didn’t think I’d actually like this cd.  I wanted to give it a shot for the simple reason that Meg and Dia are both mighty cute (superficial, I know) and I have a special place in my heart for chicks that can actually rock out and not fake it.  So I’ve been listening to Something Real for almost a month now and I’m actually liking to it more than I ever thought I would.
 
The first song, “Monster” is just the tip of the iceberg.  Following a quick drum roll, the song kicks in full steam with a riff and accompanying beat a lot of the so called emo/screamo bands can’t pull off.  From there it jumps between a hard, guitar driven rock song and a ballad laced beautifully with melody.  Vocalist Dia says she bases a lot of songs around 18th and 19th century literature, or as she calls it, “fairy tale stuff.”  While not a fairy tale, Meg says “Monster” is about John Steinbeck’s East Of Eden.  At the song’s climax, with Dia belting out the lyrics “There's bath tubs, full of glow flies, bathe in kerosene, their words tattooed in his veins,” you can feel the intensity of a young woman believing every word coming out of her mouth.
 
I think what’s refreshing about Something Real is the intelligence.  These aren’t songs about puppies and flowers.  For example, “Indiana” centers around a book of the same name and is about surviving the consequences and vulnerability of a young woman’s love in early France.  Yeah, I know it sounds like I checked my balls at the beginning of this review, but believe me, it sounds a hell of a lot better on record than it does in my translation.
 
Overall, the songwriting on Something Real is quite excellent.  Meg’s sister Dia seems to have a knack for crafting edgy pop gems that compliment the intellectual lyrical content.  She’s also capable of pulling off jazz infused melodies as evident on “Cardigan Weather.”
 
There’s no doubt this album is pretty much chick rock but I could easily picture any of these tunes sandwiched between less talented top 40 songs on the radio.  It’ll be interesting to see if the mainstream record buying public latches on to Meg and Dia.  I’ve read in a couple other articles, these young ladies could very well be standing in the TRL studios a few months from now being serenaded by a chorus of screaming teenagers and I think that’s very well the case.  It would be a breath of fresh air and also a deserving one.  So to the guys who think they’re a little too tough to listen to what I’ve attempted to describe, think again.  Meg and Dia may be poised to take on the world and you’ll find yourself singing along before you know it.