With an obvious appreciation for junkyard noise poet Tom Waits’ approach to song construction (using peculiar instruments and idiosyncratic and metaphoric lyrics), the release of Sharpen Your Teeth by reluctant pop star Ugly Casanova, is another remarkable discovery for Seattle based Sub Pop Records.
The Washington based Emo band Modest Mouse first noticed Edgar Graham a.k.a. Ugly Casanova in the summer of 1998. Showing signs of psychological unevenness that endeared them to him, the trio invited Casanova to tour. While his talent was apparent, self-doubt and shame of his performances caused him to retreat into himself. By the end of the tour the members of Modest Mouse twisted Casanova’s arm into recording some of his songs. Reluctantly he did and then unsurprisingly vanished.
Sub Pop discovered the recordings in the winter of 2001 amongst a pile of old boxes. After listening to the tapes, Sup Pop started the meticulous process of compiling and mastering the various tracks. Brian Deck and Isaac Brock, who also performed Casanova’s songs with a handful of compatible collaborators, produced Sharpen Your Teeth. Even though Casanova performs on the record, as well as takes credit for the songs, he shares vocal duties with guest musicians on most of the tracks.
With ‘Barnacels’ the disc launches with the old George Martin technique of recording a guitar loop played backwards for a psychedelic effect which then transitions into Coldplay meets World Party vibe complete with atypical percussion and haunting electric guitar fills. With a lingering violin and vox, ‘Hotcha Girls’ has a solemn ambiance with metaphoric lyrics. ‘Pacifico’ contains the title Sharpen Your Teeth, which could draw comparisons to any post Heart attack and Vine album by Tom Waits. With its use of heavy and untimely percussion, the first single, ‘Things I Don’t Remember’ is lyrically as bizarre as anything Frank Zappa ever sang.
Ugly Casanova could be likened to Tricky on meth amphetamine at times, as he creates edgy and erratic textures throughout this tempestuous recording. It would be hard to group his music into a genre so why bother? Sharpen Your Teeth is weird but wonderful and an impressive first outing from this artist who calls himself Ugly Casanova.