Fred Frith is a youngest child, like I am, and he graduated with a BA and a masters in English literature (I’ve got the first half, at least). He seems like someone I’d want to be and it seems possible because our paths are similar. His brothers are Simon Frith, famous sociologist and prominent Rock Critic, and Chris Frith, well-known psychologist. Fred Frith is an amazing guitar player and no mode of playing is too silly or weird for him. He experiments with different materials and sounds by making his own instruments. On Cheap at half the price, Frith uses many of his inventions and guarantees an appropriately indicative solo in almost every song, creating an interesting piece of work that is sure to amuse and entertain.
Cheap at half the price, released 1983 on Ralph Records (the mysterious act The Residents founded this label) is an album that migrates back and forth from the political to the personal, providing a manic tension between lyrics and instrumentation. Songs like “Some Clouds Don’t” “Cap the knife”, and “Too much, too little” all emanate carnival like atmosphere while advising listeners not to trust the wise and to be weary of those who claim to be spreading prosperity (see Ronald Reagan samples in “cap the knife”) but are really just killing others in the name of true democracy. “Too much, too little”, is an ironic euphemism musically for its heavy content. With lyrics like “what the eye doesn’t see the heart won’t mind” it becomes certain that the lightheartedness of the music reflects the nonchalance of leaders on issues that should be taken more seriously, as well as the sad reality that much of the world’s suffering is covered shamelessly so that those causing trouble won’t be held accountable.
“True love”, “Same old me”, and “the Welcome” are more personal songs that express definite discontent and hopelessness. For instance, after a hysterical one man fight in “true love”, an audience can be heard clapping, as if the song’s horrific occurrences were something sensationalized for entertainment. “Some clouds do” is an explosive attempt for reconciliation that does not find any middle ground or solace. All of these songs are extremely shrill and overflowing with positivity from an instrumental standpoint. The rest of the songs somehow slide into less rocky terrain, where the obstacles of sheer excessiveness are ironed away. Lucidity can prevail, though maintaining complexity, less hindered by the manic depressiveness of his previous songs.
Turmoil eventually settles into more ambient rhythms without lyrics that begin to convey honest notions unattached to the previously pervasive irony. The instrumental section is interesting, not only because it sounds, strangely enough, like the more avant-gard and more stimulating father of radiohead, but because it does not follow the law of opposition to another element like the instrumentation in previous songs does with the music. It is by itself, at once making each piece more genuine yet increasingly abstract. The instrumental movements give some resolve to Fred Frith’s worries and to adopt the role of the “Great healer” of all the trauma that world is continuously causing. Indeed, the last song of the album is a far cry from the beginning or even the middle, which seemed hopelessly entangled in a million mental knots. It is soft and subtle, calming and hopeful…
And the end could possibly put you to sleep if you aren’t patient. The majority of this album doles out a sort of sensory overload in the form of a crazy carnival that slowly wanes as it nears its final moment. As the album progresses it sheds its mores of insanity and all the disconcerting friction caused by overly uplifting sounds underlining unpleasing issues that could cause undue sensitivity. Maybe Frith is making a point, that the “great healer” is only a façade, way to end the album, close some doors, and start anew, even if things aren’t quite that way in reality.
1. Some Clouds Don't
2. Cap the Knife
3. Evolution
4. Too Much Too Little
5. Welcome, The
6. Same Old Me
7. Some Clouds Do
8. Instant Party
9. Walking Song
10. Flying in the Face of Facts
11. Heart Bares
12. Absent Friends
13. the Great Healer
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