“But They Can’t Take Our Dignity” Album Review
The Wreckids
November 3, 2013
Scott and Sarah, the married duo who make up The Wreckids, are people you feel like you already know. When we’re hosting friends around the house, it’s often the case that a guitar will get pulled out and our pals will take turns playing some fan faves (cue Jim, with “The Most Beautiful Girl in the Room”) to the increasingly inebriated chorus of talentless onlookers. It’s scenarios like these where you expect to have Scott and Sarah show up and put everyone out of their misery by taking claim of any instruments, and begin wooing even the sober in attendance. When you see The Wreckids live, their Mitch and Mickey folksy and fun-loving banter makes you wonder how you could get a dose of that for yourselves outside of the bar, and it’s a real treat to know that their new full-length album But They Can’t Take Our Dignity grants such a wish.
We’ve long owned The Wreckids earlier EPs, and while sharing them with folks too foolish to not know them yet, the albums exude a hipness that’s impossible not to compare to their live shows. Dignity continues the trend by representing a duo that makes the listener feel like they’re seasoned veterans of mainstream music working on a side-project that brings them a lot of joy. Almost like a purposefully chosen path of rags to riches, and back rags because fame was boring storyline. The album incorporates their artfully comedic and dynamic lexicon, with stories told as songs in beautiful harmony and with more diverse instrumentation. Dignity is a wonderfully representative collection and perfect showcase for their personality, talent, charm, and creativity.
The first track off of the Wreckids full-length LP is “Zombies,” and captures a discussion of which weapon would be most useful against hordes of the undead seeking to convert you to their kind. The song is far more beautiful than you would think it should be, and is a textbook example of how Scott and Sarah’s talent allows them to get away with singing about survival and slaughter almost as a love duet. In weighing in on the merits of using a shotgun, Scott thoughtfully considers, “You’d run out of ammo and draw a crowd/I’d have to see you eaten and then I would feel alone…” which makes you think both, “valid point” and also “well isn’t that the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard?” Easily a highlight of the album, “Zombies” introduces you to the wit and instrumental savvy Scott and Sarah have to work with, and lucky for listeners that is a constant throughout. On later tracks, “Everybody Loves Me,” “Untouchable You,” and “Better Off Alone” the duo flex a musical prowess that parallels Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, only like…way cooler.
M&M personal favorites include “Way to Go, Me,” a soft anthem for the underachiever in us all, and “Like Us Before It’s Cool To” which not only mentions drinking Colt 45s (we wish we didn’t know about these, but we sadly have experience) but also challenges listeners to—this will blow your mind—like the The Wreckids before it’s cool to. If you’re only just getting on The Wreckids bandwagon, you’re too late to like them before they’re cool—but seriously, read our interview with Scott in our next post, he’s cool now, ok—but you’re not too late to start a collection of their smartly done albums. While you can find But They Can’t Take Our Dignity on itunes, we’re proponents of going to see Scott and Sarah live and buying their CDs from them directly—so go enjoy their next headlining gig at Garfield Artworks on December 6th and save them the itunes greedfee.
