The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Wednesday, October 7, 2009 - 5A The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Wednesday, October 7~ 2009 - 5A Young, brash and ready to electro-rock ByKRISTYN ACHO For the Daily Like so many gritty, Ray Ban- wearing British pop bands before ** it, The Big Pink has created quite The Big Pink a buzz. Between A Brief loudmouthed media remarks History of Love like "Lily Allen is 4AD a mouthy bitch" (which was, in fact, a compliment) and the band's sexually sugges- tive name, it's hard to push all the bullshit aside and take the edgy London duo's music seriously. It looks like The Big Pink's Rob- bie Furze and Milo Cordell got the memo, though. The loudmouth tendencies that arguably made the band famous have seemed to dis- appear. For one, A Brief History of Love's formerly X-rated album art- work by Dennis Cooper has been toned down. The new cover now looks as though it could be found in any hipster-haven record store: it merely features an artsy photo of a scantily clad woman placed under the band's name. Even though the duo's name may pay homage to The Band's twangy, homespun Music from Big Pink, its musical influences are much closer to the textured, gloomy vocals of The Jesus and Mary Chain circa Psychocandy. Furze and Cordell, who produced A BriefHistory ofLove themselves, play into the semi-garbled to-fi sound that seems to be dominating indie rock right now, but they still manage to make the tracks sound fresh-and exciting. The first single, "Velvet," is a moody ballad, complete with muf- fled electronic feedback that per- meates the entire track. Produced by Alan Moulder, who has previ- ously worked with bands like My Bo94yVaj tjpandThe Smahing Pumpkins, the song has an experi- mental quality that complements Furze's soulful vocals. Through streams of percussion and sound, Furze's voice seems drowned out by the music, creating a haunting sonic backdrop. "Crystal' Visions" and "Domi- nos" are both layered with elec- tronic synthesizers that explode into intense guitar solos at their choruses. In an album slightly bogged down by slow, emotionally laden tracks, these songs bring a hard rock exterior that matches the band's hip persona. "Dominos" takes on the cruel nature of love with pitiless lyrics like "Swallow my sugar kiss and eat it alone" and "I really loved breaking your heart." The lyrics are twisted and almost sadistic, aiming for the gut and forgoing simple interpreta- tion. These guys obviously have some serious hang-ups and aren't afraid to air their dirty laundry in these songs. Cordell, who also produced electronic tunes for Klaxons, Crystal Castles and The Teenag- ers, has plenty of experience with the electro-pop genre. His uncan- ny ability to take synthetically dis- torted "noise" and make it music is on full display here. Still, while the album's unpolished sound is both innovative and appealing, at times the listeners might feel like they're sitting in on a musical experiment A bit unpolished, but still exciting. rather than listening to a well- composed album. In "Golden Pen- dulum," a repetitive and grating beat is juxtaposed with monotone vocals, falling flat with its scat- tered tinkerings. A Brief History of Love is a pretty hefty subject to take on in a debut album, but The Big Pink proves it's up to the challenge. Each track sums up a unique aspect of love: From the excitement of budding romance ("Too Young to Love") to painful, drawn-out breakups ("Love in Vain"), the London duo touches all the bases. While A Brief History of Love may at times feel like a wonky experiment in elec- tro music, its crooning vocals and innovative sound make up for these minute glitches. "Hand over the Lean Cuisines and nobody gets hurt ... or exposed in one of my films." Moore of the same Do cap offc Mic spend decryi institu capita Unite( but a t it wil you dollar talism Story' an ap bleak the Ax and s ences' vague mote: A r talism emoti when a -funs film a convey Even ism" v the th sense "Ca dumentary grills structure than Moore's previous films, jumps from story to story italism, but can't after it makes its premise clear. Moore delivers his hypothesis - 'r a better system that the abusive economic system of free trade is destroying the judi- By NICK COSTON cial system of American democra- Daily Arts Writer cy - and then presents examples of this destruction across the hael Moore's latest film country. Moore is acutely aware s more than two hours that a two-hour PowerPoint pre- ing the sentation on the subject would be ation of *- . boring, so he intercuts interviews lism in the and pie charts with gaudy public d States, Capilism: spectacles like cordoning off the icket to see New York Stock Exchange with I still cost A LOve Story policetapeand drivinganarmored American At Quality16, car to the headquarters of varioust s. "Capi- Showcase and banks, attempting to recoup the : A Love the Michigan losses of the American people in delivers person with a burlap sack. propriately Overture No one can claim that Michaeli account of Mooreisanobjectivefilmmaker.He merican economic landscape has never pretended to give equal uccessfully appeals to audi- billing to two sides of an issue. He emotions, but it remains too is a man on a mission, armed with in its declarations to pro- his camera and considerable wit, to a genuine cultural change. deliver his opinion and his alone. 'ecommendation for "Capi- Moore is a subjective filmmaker, " relies largely upon the and an exceptionally talented one on the viewers want to feel at that. Not even his fiercest crit- they watch a film. t's not ics could argue that Moore lacks ny film, it's not an exciting the ability to engagingly deliver his nd it's not entertaining in the message through film. ntional sense of the word. It is with this talent that Moore someone who loves "Capital- regales us with the story of the will be hard-pressed to leave American economy's demise. He eater feeling anything but a is somehow able to employ insur- of hopelessness. ance policies and Citibank quar- pitalism," more loose in terly reports as gripping narrative tools and yet maintains the film's sequence of events at a brisk and involving pace. Moore's use of archive footage, still images, voi- ceover and an active camera show- cases his expertise in the medium. Traditionally, Moore's films have been sharp in their focus, especially upon the object of his criticism. While "Fahrenheit 9/11" leveled specific accusations of wrongdoing against clearly iden- tified individuals, "Capitalism" paints in broader strokes, naming the abstract concept of capitalism, at least in its twisted and malfunc- tioning application in the United States, as the chief villain of the fil, TheproBble, though, is that there is no hero. Moore's stated desire is noble. He wantstocorrect the American economic system so that hard- working Americans can reclaim their lost jobs and rediscover financial stability. However, he refuses to name a potential politi- cal alternative to big, bad capital- ism. He expertly reveals the sins and pitfalls of the system and why the country must scrap it but stops short ofnamingits successor. By avoiding an endorsement of anotherconcrete economicasystem, Moore plays it far too safe. He has never cared about political back- lash in the past, so it is disappoint- ing, even for staunch supporters of the current American economic structure, that Moore is not bold enough to identify what he thinks is a better plan for America. "Capitalism: A Love Story" tells a vivid yet horrifying tale of economic stagnation and decline. Michael Moore has once again proven himself to be a masterful storyteller whose skills at eliciting an emotional response from his audience areunmatched. Unfortu- nately, after presenting the prob- lem and establishing it as a threat to the future of the nation, he fails to identify a viable solution to the disaster in which he insists we find ourselves. .Cox catches nobody By CHRISTINA ANGER For the Daily Older men have always been chasing younger women. Recently, however, older women, or "cou- gars," have been on the prowl for Cougar Town studly young men - and these women are con- at9.30 .m. fidently scouring ABC the dating scene. "Cougar Town" stars Courteney Cox ("Friends") as Jules Cobb, a 40-something recent divorcee with a teenage son. She is afraid of stag- nant life and exasperated by the prospect of looking for a new mate. ABC's new series has the poten- tial to be a sexy, funny sitcom for singles and the hitched alike. It arouses, perhaps, some competi- tive interest in its younger female viewers to get off the couch and snag their male peers before a cou- gar gets her paws on them. As fun as the title's wordplay is, "Cougar Town" is a half hour of forced sexu- ality and unrelatable situations. And, if it must be said, that's noth- ing to howl at. At one point, Courteney Cox was a character on a little series called "Friends." The show was, for teens in the '90s, an important part of learning how to grow up and deal with those awkward sexual moments that would'undoubtedly play an integral part of viewers' futures. As the world continued turning, those teens became adults and Cox got older (but still, she's as gorgeous as ever). Even so, "Cougar Town," pre- mieres with Cobb in front of the bathroom mirror staring in disgust at her aging body. With maybe five pounds of extra weight around her middle, slightly flabby upper arms and inner thighs that barely touch, Jules delivers the show's first fail- ure by her character's agonizing over her mostly perfect physique. As if it isn't annoying enough to have a cougar with a body poten- tially more fit than the young men she hunts, there are the show's excruciating sexual moments that are so awkward they're just not funny. From the idea of little boys fantasizing over posters of Cobb to her teenage son casually walking in on her performing sexual favors on a man half her age, the situations are repellent. The scenes might've been funny if they weren't lightly shrugged off by Jules, followedby a sigh of"oh, Mom" from a delusional son. A teenage boy should wretch at the mere thought of his mother's sexual lifestyle, right? Adding to the show's problems, Cox acts as a ditzy, raging woman who scorns the idea of her mid- dle-aged male neighbor getting with tons of college-aged girls. Of course, the remedy to her repul- sion comes in the form of a young man, solidifying her status as a cougar in the dating world. (He isn't even attractive enough to waste a short stare on.) Cox is too over-the-top in her acting, and she seems less like a cougar and more like a promiscuous 20-something. It doesn't help that she doesn't look a day over 3. The series is overly scripted, stupidly sexual and holds no basis for a thoughtful plot whatsoever. overly scripted, stupidly sexual. This cougar isn't a sophisticated woman who lures young men into her lair with a wit too mature for them to comprehend - now that would've actually been interest- ing. There's no sense of female empowerment, which is a stance the show should have taken, It would be simple and fascinating to play off the intimidation cougars have the ability to possess. "Cougar Town," if not doomed to failwithinanolder women audi- ence, isnsure to fall off the radar (if it ever makes it on anyone's) with a younger generation who couldn't possibly push Monica Geller aside for the shallow character that is Jules Cobb. YOU FINE? LIKE ARTS? WRITE FOR FINE ARTS. The Daily wants you. E-mail battlebots@umich.edu for an application. Continues at Leigh The College of Arts and Sciences at Lehigh University seeks graduate students who will contribute to a vibrant community of scholars and join us in exploring knowledge and practice through innovative research. Experience the individual attention usually found in a small, liberal arts college; yet take advantage of state-of-the-art laboratories, , libraries and research facilities offered only at a premier research university. Stop by our table at the Graduate School Information Fair on October 14 or discover us online at http://cas.lehigh.edu/discover. L EH IGH Discover Our Degrees in: American Studies - M.A. Biological Sciences - Ph.D. Chemistry - MS., Ph.D Clinical Chemistry - M.S. Earth and Environmental Sciences - MS., Ph.D. English - M.A, Ph.D. Environmental Policy Design - MA. History - M.A., Ph.D. Mathematics - M.S., Ph.D. Photonics - M.S. Physics - M.S., Ph.D. Political Science - M.A. Polymer Science and Engineering - MS., Ph.D. Psychology - M.A., Ph.D. Sociology - M.A.