jack's soul & rock corner

Jill Sobule
Happy Town (1997)
256

In a perfect world, Jill Sobule would be incredibly famous and sell tons of records. She is an incredibly gifted songwriter with a irreverent, sly, wicked sense of humor. So ironic are many of her lyrics that some of the dimmer bulbs out there buying music may not (read: don't) "get" her or confuse her back-handed commentaries on a variety of topics with endorsements of them (the same problem dogs other such talented smart-asses like Randy Newman). Despite being featured on many a hit movie's soundtrack, she has never broken out as a major success. Too bad, because she's great, offering up catchy, interestingly-arranged songs about such topics as the religious right ("Soldiers of Christ"), struggles in the music biz ("Bitter"), Prozac ("Happy Town"), and high-school misfits ("Underacheiver"). This, her third disc, is more experimental and far-reaching than the one previous, "Jill Sobule," but both show a big talent waiting to be discovered

1. Bitter
2. Happy Town
3. Barren Egg
4. Half A Heart
5. When My Ship Comes In
6. Clever
7. I'm So Happy
8. Little Guy
9. Underachiever
10. Love Is Never Equal
11. Soldiers Of Christ
12. Attic
13. Sold My Soul
14. Super 8
15. Supermodel (bonus, from the 'Cluesless' soundtrack)

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