Say what you will about the Juliana Hatfield Three releasing their second album 21 years after their first album, the excellent pop rock via Boston Become What You Are, it is really really the Juliana Hatfield Three: Todd Philips on drums, Dean Fisher on bass and Juliana on everything else same as ever; Whatever,My Love finds no time lapsed. Hatfield said “We haven’t totally reinvented the wheel or anything… it is the stuff I am sort of known for, I guess. But I am a lot more confident now than I was then with the first album. And I had more fun recording this one .”
Anyone who has read Juliana’s “When I Grow Up: A Memoir” may think the best thing they can do for this ungrateful weirdo is ignore her,while you and I may respect her honesty about how difficult she found being a star was, what we take away is how much she hated talking to an audience after the show. How creepy we all are. She reminded me of the Kim Gordons of the world, there is a lot of em out there, who are only interested in other musicians further up the pecking order.
Personally, I didn’t rate her first band Blake Babies, liked Hey Babe, loved the HJ3 album and her solo follow up 1995’s Only Everything. I owe her one because I saw her at Roseland in 1995 and Jeff Buckley opened, the only time I got to see him on stage and she was excellent as well. . She took a three year break and so did I but when she came back I didn’t follow. In 2009 I reviewed the memoir and thought the accompanying album, How To Walk Away was pretty good. Then a terrible terrible concert at Mercury Lounge with Evan Dando put me off again.
So, a Sunday gig at Bowery Ballroom and the sophomore album Whatever, My Love (though you can’t stream it) and I was gonna pass on both but a slow news day and you know, you gotta write about something. So I bought Whatever, My Love and a ticket for the gig next Sunday.
It’s a good rock album, straightforward, 90sish but not grunge, sounds like what it is, smart lyrics, straightforward. Nothing as great as “Spin The Bottle” but the first two songs are huge inclusions for the Hatfield songbook. Both “Invisible” and “Now That I Have found Ypou” are melodic, powerful, her voice the same, maybe a little deeper but not so much you are shocked or anything. She sounds the same. The third song is a heavy duty, gnarly bummer of a rocker “Ordinary Guy” (she is dating a junkie!)
The next three songs are Juliana by the numbers, swift whingers in and out songs, not bad but we’ve heard her do it over and over again and it sounds like her form of autopilot as a writer, though the solo on “If Only we were Dogs” is superb. The playing is consistently good, indeed the rhythm section is fabulous and the best thing about the album is absolutely Juliana’s guitar which takes over every chance she gives it. Then she throws in a self help goodie (“If I could I’d kiss every tear off your face…”) with a gorgeous country solo, like she has morphed into Roger McGuinn. “Push Pin” is a sentiment worthy of the Ramones, and “Blame The Stylist” is a classic rock piece of moodiness. Then it gets a little too downbeat till the end, but it is all good. Nothing has you disappointed even though only three songs have you dizzy with pleasure.
So, playing is better, songs don’t peak high enough, singer excellent, mood good. A good album, a pleasure, a fine return to form.
Grade: B+
