Review: Paula Frazer, Indoor Universe
When Paula Frazer ditched her backing band and the Tarnation name after leaving 4AD/Reprise four years ago, it seemed like a bad move careerwise. Tarnation, like any other band that had signed to 4AD, was guaranteed a certain amount of attention simply via their relationship to the label, regardless of their future.

As it turns out, losing the Tarnation name signified more than just the band's departure (after all, a completely different band had recorded the first two Tarnation albums). Most of the songs on Indoor Universe inhabit a very different sonic space than the songs on the Tarnation albums. For the most part, Indoor Universe is a more polished and suave pop experiment. While the opening track, "That You Know," with a samba-tinged rhythm, arpeggiated guitar, and sweeping cello swells, closely recalls the southwestern gothic-country that was Tarnation's hallmark, tracks such as "Like a Song", and the ragtime-piano-laced "Not So Bad, Not So Good" are forays into a 60's pop territory. The pub-rock influenced "Everywhere" should please people who miss Squeeze. "Mean Things", a snazzy, organ-driven R&B number, is the album's stand-out piece and one of the few places where Paula exerts her vocal chops the way she used to.

The album isn't all sunshine: "Deep was the Night" seems written for a black and white noir chase sequence. "Gone" could be a lost Roy Orbison number, and "Stay as You Are" is the kind of dusty ballad Frazer can write in her sleep. "We Met by the Love Lies Bleeding" is a dark tale of love and cremation, more effective than anything on the latest Nick Cave album.

Indoor Universe lacks some of the characteristics that made Tarnation an unique listen; the instrumentation here doesn't stray far from organ, bass, guitar, with touches of strings and the occasional horn; there isn't a track here that matches "The Well" in intensity, and now that the alt-country genre that Tarnation helped foster has reached critical mass, it seems strange that Frazer would abandon the sound she helped make famous, along with that yodel of hers that Neko Case seems to have inherited. But obviously that's the point; in leaving the Tarnation name behind and releasing Indoor Universe under her own handle, Frazer has taken a step toward defining a unique persona, free of the No Depression baggage.

Labels: paula frazer, reviews, tarnation