November 23, 2002

Baboon "Something Good is Going to Happen to You"

I love it when rock vets make a triumphant return, and Baboon has certainly done that here. After a few years of silence that was marked only by a live album (AKA symptom of a band's demise), this is their first full-length studio album in years. The fact that there even is a Baboon after all these years is amazing enough. While other great Dallas bands such as Tripping Daisy, Toadies, Old 97s, Funland, Radish, UFOFU, or The Nixons disappeared or disbanded, it's good to know that there's still a small remainder of that great mid-90s Dallas music scene.

Baboon are nothing more--and nothing less--than a great rock band. Perhaps it's because they're older, but Something Good is Going to Happen to You seems less of a return to form as it does a maturation of old ideas with a healthy dose of fresh, new sounds. There are some mellower moments, such as the lovely little instrumental "Too Handsome to Die," and the ode to a departed friend, "Goodnight, Good-bye" that I really like, and I really don't remember Baboon being so...tender.

For the most part, though, the band's got their settings on "rock," and from the first second of "Alright," you know that you're gonna have a good time. And, really, Something Good Is Going to Happen To You is a very good record that will happen to you from the get-go. There seems to be a bit of electronic weirdness beating just under the pulse of the record, which sets Baboon apart from other rock/punk bands, yet it's not enough to really make you think, "ewww, experimentation!" Take a few minutes and let Baboon be the ones to let something good happen to you--you'll enjoy the pleasure.

--Joseph Kyle

No comments: