Why aren’t Sharon Middendorf and her band Motorbaby household
\nnames?<\/p>\n
Maybe it’s because when the band’s self-titled debut album was
\nreleased in 1998, record company executives didn’t know exactly how
\nto market Motorbaby. Middendorf didn’t write or sound like Alanis
\nMorrissette or Liz Phair – in fact, it’s damn near impossible to
\npigeonhole Middendorf’s writing and performing styles. Maybe, like
\nso many other artists I’ve heard who fell through the cracks, the
\npublicity department just dropped the ball on Motorbaby, fucking up
\nthe best chance they had, at least at the time, for
\nsuperstardom.<\/p>\n
A bit strong? Perhaps. Fighting words? You bet.
\nMotorbaby<\/i> confuses me at times, but at least it keeps me
\nthinking – and, for Middendorf, that was probably half of the
\nbattle.<\/p>\n
The best way to describe Motorbaby would be to imagine Juliana
\nHatfield to front Veruca Salt after they merged with Cocteau Twins.
\nThe end result is poppy alternative with just a touch of ambient
\npsychadelia\/trance in the mix. If this were soup, it would consist
\nof ingredients you might never think to throw together in the
\npot… but the end result is quite tasty.<\/p>\n
Middendorf is the musical chameleon in this act, changing styles
\nseamlessly and making sure the listener never questions the switch.
\nYou’ve got the power-pop of “Lose Your Mind,” the song that
\nimmediately screams “hit single” had it been correctly marketed.
\nYou’ve got the throw-out-the-rules track in “Hey, Hey Now”. You’ve
\ngot the artsy side in “One In The Same,” which closes with cellos –
\ninteresting touch. You’ve got Middendorf vamping in praise of Ms.
\nDietrich in “Marlene”. And you’ve got the power punk a la Joan Jett
\n(or the aforementioned Hatfield) in “Stripped”.<\/p>\n
But what sets Motorbaby apart is that, even though the constant
\nswitches sometimes make me wonder what Middendorf is up to, I can’t
\nsay that I ever get bored with the music. For the most part,
\nMotorbaby<\/i> keeps the energy level cranked up like the
\nthermostat in an Alaskan hotel. (One minor word of warning, though
\n– this is a disc which is meant to be played at louder volumes.
\nIt’s not just that more is revealed to the listener when they can
\nhear what’s going on, but that when it’s played at a softer level,
\nit’s easier to become distracted, and this is a disc which demands
\nyour undivided attention.)<\/p>\n
\nMotorbaby<\/i> is listed as being out of print, though you can
\nstill apparently order it through the band’s website. If you see
\nthis disc online, snag it immediately. You’ll thank me later – and
\nyou’ll wonder, as I still do, why Motorbaby isn’t a household name.
\nMaybe now that the face of alternative pop has changed, some other
\nlabel will give Middendorf and crew another chance at the brass
\nring… and maybe this time the marketing department will have a
\nclue what they’re doing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25668,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[6477],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-36874","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-motorbaby","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36874"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36874\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36874"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=36874"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=36874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}