This article was originally published on beingtheremag.com, an independent music and film magazine that ran from 2004 to 2007. It is presented here as part of the Being There Magazine archive.
By Adam Anklewicz | Being There Magazine, March 2005
I went into this album with high expectations. Plaskett’s previous solo album, In Need Of Medical Attention, is my favourite of his work; Thrush Hermit and the Emergency included. La De Da has its highs and lows, but most of the album seems to ride out in the middle. Very little of the material stands out as exceptional, but those four songs really do make the album worthwhile. “Happen Now”, “Lying On A Beach”, “Natural Disaster” and “Love This Town” are all among Plaskett’s best songs.
With one hand dipped in traditional music and the other in rock ‘n’ roll, Plaskett tries to meld the two. Often this disrupts the flow and the disc comes across more as two EPs shuffled together rather than a proper album.
The album kicks off with a minute-and-a-half long song called “Absentminded Melody,” which could be a very pretty song. Unfortunately, Plaskett’s vocal performance is not up to par, and it sounds like he had been singing for twelve hours straight. If more effort was put into this song, it could have been one of the best. Backwards guitar abruptly takes over the song and leads into “Happen Now,” which is a bit disrupting to the flow that should have been established with those two songs.
“Nina and Albert” is an interesting concept of a dialogue, with Albert’s voice backed with an electric guitar, and Nina’s an acoustic. Unfortunately the song isn’t interesting enough to keep my attention from wandering.
Plaskett’s best songs often seem to take something mundane like a trip from Nova Scotia to Arizona and turn them it into something beautiful. “I left Nova Scotia/ Headed down the coast / Tore a strip off Memphis/ Before I left for Roanoke / I punished Pecos County/ And headed for Las Cruces / everyone around me / will be covered in my bruises.” “Natural Disaster” is one of the highlights of this album, with electric and acoustic guitars and pedal steel all merging together to create a great soundscape.
Sounding like a reject from his previous album Truthfully Truthfully, “Truth Be Told” features bass and drums at the core of the song. It was a popular style he used on the previous album, but it doesn’t work as well on this song. “Truth Be Told” isn’t nearly as funny or funky as “Work Out Fine” or “Extraordinary” from Truthfully Truthfully.
“Love This Town” is a simple song by a man and his guitar about his love for his home. “Nobody cares how much money you have / if you’ve got enough to get in a cab / there’ll be drinks on the house / if your house burns down / there’s a reason that I love this town.” This song truly shows the humour that fills Plaskett’s songs and why he is a great songwriter. “I played a show in Kelowna last year / said ‘pick it up Joel, we’re dying in here’ / picture one hand clapping, now picture half that sound / there’s a reason that I hate that town”. Perhaps it won’t be a popular song out west, but the rest of the nation will love it.
The low points are low, but when it gets going, Plaskett pulls out no stops. Still, this is definitely not the place to start. If you’re new to Plaskett’s work, buy a copy of In Need Of Medical Attention instead.