The Tyrant’s in Therapy cd High Class Trash is a large body of work that covers just about every aspect of the human condition in styles that range from calypso to country to a song Crosby, Stills Nash and Young could have written.
There are 21 songs on High Class Trash, told you it is a large body of work. Track 17 and 18 are listed incorrectly on the insert and oddly when the song comes up on the player it has the correct name for the song on insert but a different song plays.
The first part of High Class Trash doesn’t prepare you for the effect of Apocalypso on your sense of humor. This calypso commentary on the apocalypse gives you a whole new look at the inevitable end. Given that I live in California between two earth quake faults the lyrical line that cracked me up was, “I looked to the skies and what did I see. The state of Oregon is tumbling down on me.”
Tyrants in Therapy describes some my own dating experiences in Zodiac. Zodiac is a hilarious recount of men and their respective signs of the Zodiac. “I hate the Zodiac!” Zodiac starts you with a Yee Ha! that turns into ha, ha, ha, ha.
In the middle of what could be called frivolity or insanity there are some beautiful songs.
Saturday Night Live is a song you could have heard Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young singing back in the day. Not only does it have true meaning it is also beautiful lyrically and musically. It poses the questions, “What are you saying to me? Is this all we can be?” At first glance you see it is about a relationship, but then you see it goes deeper. “I turned the corner and headed for a light on down the street. I looked down to avoid some eyes and there was a pair of bare feet. Belong to a man I didn’t want to know. He asked if I knew where he could in out of the cold.” “Is this all we can be?”, takes on a completely different meaning when you look at the depth of these words. Tyrants in Therapy gives us hope for themselves and mankind when they add, “I just cannot believe that this all we can be.”
If you have you have part of the collective social conscience or have ever been disappointed when the local cowboy bar wouldn’t let you bring your horse inside this cd might just be right for you.
I am editing this because I forgot one other song that had me flat out laughing. “My Dying Girlfriend”. She calls him to tell him she is leaving and how everyone has ruined her life. When he hangs up we find out she is calling on her cell from the bedroom and could have just walked in to tell him her woes. That is so funny because my son and I do that when he is living here. Hey! It’s a long way from the family room to his bedroom. Now that he lives in a two story apartment he and his roommates text and call each other all the time, room to room and floor to floor. This really is the end of the review…unless I think of something else.
Michael Jaye and Abbey are not only hilarious and intelligent,they are extrememly nice folks. Nice to have Marc Mann on board as well, his touch is golden (Go see concert For George). If you get the chance, see TIT and Bear Bros.together (w/ Marc) both at Canter’s Kibitz Room on Fairfax in Hollywood, Oct. 10, ’09..this will be an epic show!