Style: alt rock
Label: Hidden Agenda Records
Year: 2000
Home: Sweden
Members: Matthias Barjed, Ian Person ~ guitar/b. vocals
Martin Hederos ~ keyboards/b. vocals
Ake Karl Kalle Gustafsson ~ bass/violin/b. vocals
Ebbot Lundberg ~ vocals/harmonica
Fredrik Sandsten ~ drums
Love's ups & downs, losses & gains via the metaphor of the stock exchange. I've never heard of this metaphor before, so I applaud the lyrical creativity of TSOOL's opening track "Dow Jones Syndrome" ... though in this day & age it might not actually be a love song! "Nobrainer" with its advertising board room verse "no brainer/money maker/this is what we'd all would like you'd to buy" follows a similar lyrical play on a theme, but with a much more hippie musical background. Sadly, the music drones on & on hypnotically & the lyrics repeat far too much, taking a good theme that could be developed out more for some lyrical comical twists & languishing in repetition that goes nowhere. The music is interesting with its amalgamation of 60's psychedelic rock styles relying a lot on dreamy guitar & harpsichord backgrounds, but other bands do something better. Other bands also get the body rolling with some interesting melodies & rhythms underneath the textures. Oasis & Bigelf come to mind in crafting something that sounds like the Rolling Stones or Beatles but taking it up a notch into some personal, while Kula Shaker took the Indian experience to a more personal level with a message. The three songs that follow aren't as lyrically interesting & much more straight ahead radio rock with little touches of country (i.e. "It Ain't Free (Livin' In A Bubble)"), while "James Last Experience", "Play Station Bordello" both wander in trippy esoterica, particularly the instrumental later with tambura strumming. It's an interesting ending song, but I've always felt instrumentals were wasted on EPs unless its a progressive band. Personally, I'd be interested in hearing the lyrics developed out more instead of heavy repetition, with the music have something more than a just denseness that's imitative without personality that doesn't go anywhere. TSOOL broke up this year so they've played their last soundtrack.
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