$10.00
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HAPPINESS FACTOR
Avoid Danger
"bristling, catchy pop songs seething with energy
and frustration..."
From the opening chug of the Kinks-esque “In-Crowd”
to the final sarcastic word of bonus track “Mr. Critic”,
this record explodes with the freshness of songs that were captured
before they could be flogged to death by over-working. Check out
the T-Rex meets “Come Together” crunch of “Insane
ledger”; the Bowie/Pulp swagger of “Proper Channels”;
“Weight of the World” and its stark Plastic Ono Band
mantra; “The Man From the Filling Station” with its
crazed ‘Beatles on acid while roaming La Mancha’ feel;
“The Hand that Feeds” snotty-ska Clash/Costello workout.
Clocking in at just over half an hour, “Avoid Danger”
cuts to the chase and packs a mighty lyrical wallop.
WOULD SOUND GOOD ON A MIX TAPE WITH: Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson,
The Replacements, The Strokes, John Lennon
1. The In-Crowd
LISTEN
2. Insane Ledger
LISTEN
3. Proper Channels
4. Soft
LISTEN
5. Weight Of The World
6. Avoid Danger
LISTEN
7. The Man FromThe Filling Stations
8. Trouble Magnet
LISTEN
9. The Hand That Feeds
LISTEN
10. Use Radios
LISTEN
11. Mr. Critic
(bonus track)
LISTEN
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$12.00
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HAPPINESS FACTOR
Self-Improvement
From Dallas' Summerbreak Records, Happiness Factor's 2001 debut Short sharp power pop songs that blast through like the Replacements channeled through Elvis Costello & The Attractions circa This Year's Model. Salim Nourallah is a very distinct powerful songwriter capable of unbridled passion, angst, and incredible poignancy as well.
"Cranking out heavily caffeinated pop tunes with a super-sized chaser of smirk and attitude, the Happiness Factor sound as if they're firmly in touch with their inner punk on their debut album, Self-Improvement? Fronted by tunesmith Salim Nourallah, the Happiness Factor are hooky as all get-out on these tunes, with a melodic sense that suggests the Cavedogs or the Flashing Lights after a can or two of Red Bull, but Nourallah's often witty, sometimes caustic lyrics and Paul Averitt's crunchy guitar figures throw a healthy dose of rock & roll into the mix that cuts through any treacle like a knife through Cheez Whiz.
The songs are good and the players know how to bring 'em across, especially on "Gonna Be a Rockstar," "I Want You But I Don't," and the suitably cynical closer, "Everything's a Lie," while "Hold" gives Nourallah a chance to show he can convincingly make with the mushy stuff, too. Any band with a song like "Rock 'n Roll Pimp" would seemingly be playing Judas by reaching for the Big Time, but Self-Improvement? suggests that there might be room there for the Happiness Factor. "
--Mark Deming, All Music Guide
TRACK LISTING:
1. Self-improvement?
LISTEN
2. Facelift
LISTEN
3. Gonna Be a Rockstar
LISTEN
4. Lovable
LISTEN
5. I Want You but I Don't
LISTEN
6. I Don't Wanna Be Your Everything
LISTEN
7. Hold
LISTEN
8. Sucking Out My Faith
9. The Bastard Song
10. World of You
11. Baby for the Day
12. Rock 'n' Roll Pimp
13. Everything's a Lie
Summerbreak Records
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