Reviews

At one point in everyone’s lives, they will experience something they aren’t sure how to interpret. Something new and intriguing, slightly charming but mostly exciting and something that almost brings on a sense of nervousness. People fear innovation, almost as much as stumbling upon a website featuring artistic nudes of Rosie O’Donnel, which is why some of the greatest artists of the past centuries haven’t reached their peak of success until after their death.
 
Perhaps only a few times will one find something absolutely intriguing; not intriguing in the sense of blatant shock or even so much in absolute mystery but that is outside the normal spectrum of expected human nature. Like meeting someone who at one point drove the Oscar Meyer Weiner Mobile, or whose favorite band was Modest Mouse; something that didn’t have an explanation but didn’t so much require one either. So is it worth it to ask “Why?” or how it came about and ruin the intrigue with curiosity? Or just to bask in and embrace what was slightly skewed from what is “typical?”
 
This seems to be the paradox presented by Fake Problems out of Naples, Florida, with their new CD Spurs & Spokes/Bull>Matador, which incorporates elements of folk rock, country, electronica, punk rock, and dance into an orgy of strange new sounds that I can only describe as…unbridled enthusiasm?
 
From the first chord of the album it shows influence dating back to 1950, even at times reminding me of an old Elvis Presley country ballad. The influence doesn’t stop after the downfall of the king with a blatant punk influence bleeding through the song structures. The incorporation of a bizarre sounding banjo at times left me waiting, as if I was watching a movie that I expected to pull itself together at the end. If I had to make an educated guess, I’d say Fake Problems are fans of country music and western movies just as much as they probably love dance and punk and watching murder mysteries.
 
The band’s gritty vocals and rough guitars add a sense of energy to the music just as the (at times) rockabilly drums keep a foot tappingly fun tempo. If anything, I could safely say there is something very theatrical and dramatic about the way they present their music.
 
The album wreaks of mid-western despair but at the same time carries an upbeat melody and optimism and a definite bite to it. This was a decidedly unique experience, as I haven’t quite heard much like it that managed to drive as deeply and powerfully as they have, mostly because many genre-crossing bands lack something where each of the genres they incorporate is at one point strong. I can’t say that about Fake Problems though. They seem genuine and likable, not as a favorite band but as a CD someone puts in when they’re in a hectic daze to hear something as seemingly out of touch with “the norm” as they feel. I’m giving it four stars, hopefully the next album will defy skeptic’s expectations.