The Tragically Hip
Day For Night (Atlantic)
by Marc Hirsh
The Tragically Hip
Day For Night (Atlantic)
by Marc Hirsh
originally published in the Public News, June 28, 1995
There used to be this band called the Alarm. Like U2 in those heady early years, the Alarm listened to the Clash and heard themselves. "We," they invariably thought, "can do this." And so, like U2, the Alarm set out to conquer the world through arena punk. There were only two problems. U2 sprung forth from war-torn Northern Ireland, while the Alarm hailed from more-or-less stable Wales (not their fault). And U2 led while the Alarm chose to follow (definitely their fault). So, while the Alarm was never a very bad band, they never became a very good one, either.
All of which has nothing to do with Day For Night except for the fact that it's happening again. The characters and settings are different (R.E.M. instead of U2, Athens and Canada rather than Northern Ireland and Wales), but the story sounds familiar.
Okay, so this isn't entirely fair. So they play textural college-rock with indecipherable imagery sung by a man whose voice has a tendency to slip into a disturbingly accurate Michael Stipe impression (as a listen to "So Hard Done By" nicely demonstrates). It used to be different. They used to be better.
No, it appears that this is just a misstep by a band whose record company wants to see sales equivalent to their glowing press. It sounds calculated, as if the band just decided to see what would happen if they tried to sound like Live (who, y'know, sell albums). The answer: nothing much. Devoid of any personality through their own doing, they struggle in vain to make it all sound worthwhile.
Every song feels like an epic and the line "but your finger starts to wiggle and landscapes emerge" pops up in two different songs. This, of course, means something, probably Something Important, but then, the Alarm thought they were Pretty Important.
The Alarm probably could have gone on to greatness, or at least surpassed mediocrity, if they had just followed their own muse. It sounds like the Tragically Hip changed direction to appease their record company and radio programmers. It would be a shame if their gambit worked.