“This right here would sound real good, I think, personally / real nice for a car commercial or something / maybe something for maxi pads, you know, ’cause a lot of people use ‘em.”
– “Sing Along”
On the follow-up to 2005’s Gone Ain’t Gone and 2007’s web-only Over the Counter Culture, Tim Fite splices samples and front-porch staples like banjo and pedal steel into his own proprietary formula. The blend engages and irritates–mostly the former–but better that a musician risk failure than not, and this Woody Guthrie and Public Enemy fan is one risky fellow.
That said, the Brooklyn artist’s drone can get old after a while. Fite deserves credit for his creativity–Fair Ain’t Fair (Anti-, 2008) also includes mandolin and yodeling–but more vibrant vocals would really help his anti-consumerist message come alive. Instead, his singing sounds strangely submerged, like Beck circa Mellow Gold or One Foot in the Grave.
On the plus side, the harmonies from Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond) on “The Names of All the Animals” and the whistling on “More Clothes” alleviates this problem, coming across like lo-fi, post-modern Pet Sounds outtakes. The bouncy, aptly titled “Sing Along”, with its Beatle-esque “la-la-la’s,” represents another tuneful twist on Fite’s eclectic recipe.
Then there are the lyrics. Fair Ain’t Fair features lines like, “There’s folly in the pork fat,” “there’s mustard on your titty,” and “a horse is a horse, of course.” Did he make this stuff up on the spot or spend long hours thinking it up? Either way: they’re sometimes silly, but always distinctive, and that may be his intent. The line between woefully inept and intentionally goofy can be difficult to discern. Fortunately, Tim Fite usually stays on the right side of that equation.
Download Over the Counter Culture for free here.
Tim Fite show date:
June 11 Huckleberry’s Pizza Parlor - Rock Island, IL
Rock on with the new music, Tim Fite !!