The Pooh Sticks
Optimistic Fool (Seed)
by Marc Hirsh
The Pooh Sticks
Optimistic Fool (Seed)
by Marc Hirsh
originally published in the Public News, June 28, 1995
Like the dancing flower shown in a series of photos on the cover, Optimistic Fool is ludicrous on every rational, cognitive level, but it's hard not to enjoy it once it gets going. It's ridiculous, but you still have to laugh.
Sure, the songs are silly in every way. The lyrics are teenage-innocent. The omnipresent vocal harmonies are about as pure as they could be. The music wavers between loud rock ("Cool In A Crisis") to sappy schmaltz (the Wings-ish "Optimistic Fool") but is never anything less than pure and unadulterated pop. And when it's all put together, it's magic. You may know what to expect, you may have heard it before, but for some reason, you smile as you tell yourself not to like it.
We're not even talking guilty pleasures here. It's never been clear whether the Pooh Sticks are satirizing pop music or paying tribute, but they succeed at both. If you don't like the 1970s treasure trove that the Pooh Sticks constantly ransack, feel free to take the more cynical approach. But whether you're laughing at the music or with it, you're still laughing.
What's new on Fool is the band's apparent discovery of session musicians. Not that the Pooh Sticks have resorted to using outside help. Rather, the new songs sound like the work of a singer-songwriter reliant on slick studio pros, instead of a band, for the recording process. By design, of course. The band is phenomenally tight, even while emulating the loose feel of session anonymity. It's a subtle joke but a good one nonetheless.
Like the band's previous, brilliant Million Seller, Fool focuses on pop music, young love and the interconnections between the two. The protagonists of both the kickoff "Opening Night" and the smooth "Prayer For My Demo" use music to win the girl, while the closing "First of a Million Love Songs" relates the touching tale of a mother taking her daughter to her first dance and the promise of young love that can now be fulfilled. Like that song's nostalgic mother, the Pooh Sticks remember what it was like to have a single song encapsulate the confused idealism of the pubescent romantic. Humbly, they offer us a chance at the same.