eMusic

Start Your Trial

Underdog Victorious

by

Jill Sobule

 
Underdog Victorious
view larger image View Larger

Rate it!

Avg: 4.0 (77 ratings)

  • We Say...

    Review by Barry Walters

    Best known for her 1995 hit "I Kissed A Girl," Jill Sobule proves herself on her fifth — and maybe finest — album a far more substantial songwriter than her one-hit-wonder status suggests. Much like her fellow New Yorkers Fountains of Wayne, Sobule possesses uncommon wit, plentiful hooks and the ability to pick up and twist pop idioms at will. On "Cinnamon Park," she borrows that sunny piano riff from Chicago's "Saturday in the Park" for a bouncy ditty about dropping magic mushrooms in a waterbed-equipped '70s van. She's naturally nostalgic for those carefree days of yore, but doesn't forget to mention that her friend is "now in counseling and she's using again." For "The Last Line," Sobule croons a fragile lullaby of lovers who share cocaine-fueled plans of kids and real estate, as if relaying a fairy tale gone wrong. Not once during Underdog Victorious does she make the common folkie mistake of thinking smart lyrics preclude a memorable tune and well-conceived arrangement. When she covets a successful and far more practical friend's flat-screen TV during "Freshman," a spartan keyboard tinkle gives way to a broad sweep of instrumentation laced with the sounds of suburban lawn sprinklers and twittering birds, demonstrating a musical imagination that's as vivid as her plain-spoken poetry.

  • They Say...

    Review by James Christopher Monger, All Music Guide

    Singer/songwriter Jill Sobule's quirky tales of love, loss, and human frivolity would seem precious and cloying in the hands of a lesser interpreter. Underdog Victorious, her first release of all-new material since 2000's Pink Pearl -- she put out a retrospective the following year -- features all of the sarcasm, wit, keen observation, and big-sister charm that fans have come to expect from the tenacious New Yorker. Sobule inhabits each of her characters with an equal amount of empathy and motherly whimsy, whether it be Third World prostitutes ("Tel Aviv"), "Strawberry Gloss"-wearing teen princesses, or closeted boys wilting beneath the Bible-clenched fists of intolerant fathers ("Under the Disco Ball") -- the latter, with its refrain of "they have a scheme/they have a plan/to take the children of our land/turn them into stylists and women who play golf," is like 1995's "I Kissed a Girl"'s younger sibling. Sobule is a true pop aficionado, and her melodies have never suffered from the run-of-the-mill, singer/songwriter trappings of the genre, so when she builds an entire song off of the piano riff from Chicago's "Saturday in the Park" -- the ludicrously catchy first single, "Cinnamon Park" -- it never feels calculated. The title track is the real gem here; with its Mott the Hoople-like chorus and Mick Ronson-era Bowie guitar lick, it captures all of the sunshine, self-deprecation, and joy of simply being allowed to be a musician with a big burning heart. Sobule's voice lacks the sometimes icy pretension of oft-compared, hip contemporaries like Aimee Mann. In fact, a better comparison would be the perpetually underrated Cyndi Lauper, another mischievous pixie whose "New Yahk" accent and spirited irreverence often overshadowed her more somber and challenging offerings. It's this homegrown accessibility that provides much of the aptly titled Underdog Victorious' engaging warmth, and besides, it's hard not to root for an artist who closes her record with a surprisingly heartfelt and genuine ode to misery without sounding the least bit whiny.

  • You Say...

    Write a Review

    I would like to say...

    Artist: Jill Sobule

    Album: Underdog Victorious

    Review Title: (maximum 50 characters)

    Your Review: (maximum 1,000 characters)

    Cancel

    Please keep your comments to the recordings themselves, and be courteous and respectful. Thanks! For further info, read our Community Guidelines.

“ The indie iTunes — Hardcore music fans are migrating to eMusic, the iTunes Music Store's cheaper, cooler cousin.”


Rolling Stone
Start Your Trial

© 1998-2009 eMusic.com Inc. eMusic and the eMusic logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks in the USA or other countries. All rights reserved.

All Music Guide © 1992 - 2009 All Media Guide, LLC
Portions of content provided by All Music Guide, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC

Facebook®, YouTube, Flickr™ and Wikipedia® are registered trademarks of their respective owners, Facebook Inc., Google, Inc., Yahoo! Inc. and Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Neither Facebook Inc., Google, Inc., Yahoo! Inc. nor Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. are partners or sponsors of eMusic. eMusic uses the Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and Wikipedia API but is not endorsed or certified by Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and Wikipedia. eMusic does not pre-screen, monitor, endorse nor assume any liability for websites, contents, products, services or claims made by Facebook, YouTube, Flickr™ and Wikipedia®.

Legal or copyright question regarding Facebook, YouTube, Flickr or Wikipedia content on eMusic? Please email us.