As soon as this album landed in my hands I knew there was something off with it. The pictures of cats adorning the cover, booklet inlay and the CD itself gave me a bad feline (I’m sorry) straight away. The band’s name ICan ICan’t give an impression of inner turmoil, conflicting emotions or something bordering schizophrenic. That could have been interesting. Instead, it seems to represent indecision; a want to go one direction without ever having the conviction to see it through.
The album, also called ICan ICan’t, sounds like a version of Wilco for people who think Wilco is too edgy and “out there”. It’s alt-folk of the softest variety. Any edges that it conceivably may have had have been filed away so that it is safe to leave in the presence of even the most reckless toddler.
Each song has its own little ditty, none of which ever lead anywhere. The lyrics jump between the diabetes-inducing sweet and the pathetically apologetic, which seems to scream “why won’t you love me?”. Needless to say, it gets very tiring very quickly.
Even ‘Goodbye, Cruel World’ fails to be as dark as the title suggests. While the lyrics come out “Much as I try to/ I can’t find the right move/ To do myself in,” the tune is an upbeat acoustic number that makes it hard to believe there is any sincerity in the words.
The only place anything a little more interesting comes into the mix is on ‘I Was Young and I Needed The Money’ but that is limited to a few dark chords in the instrumental interlude. Just as you sense a more change coming, it kicks back into the apologetic refrain.
It’s all perfectly safe and soft. It’s just never interesting or engaging. As the opener I don’t care what you think of me says: “I don’t care what you think of me / You’re entitled to think what you think / But maybe you should be a little more concerned about yourself.” So maybe it’s something about me and not the album. Still… the cats! Why all the cats?