C O V E R		R E V I E W
		I think the reason I enjoyed this disc so much is that it's written from a much older perspective than most of the music we're getting at Splendid these days. I'm not talking dinosaur rock or anything like that -- the Solipsistics take a gentle, almost weary approach to composition, managing to be minimal and upbeat instead of resorting to Baby Boomer rock god fantasies. There's a touch of They Might Be Giants on "We Few", for instance -- a song that draws energy from a simple, driving rhythm and jaunty piano line. "6th and Union" is wryly sarcastic trucker rock, while "I've Got a Plan" daringly works without percussion for more than half its length. The parenting anthem "Tough Love" ("We screwed up," a pair of "failed" parents begin) is particularly evocative, in no small part due to the spoken-word segment that closes the track. The Solipsistics have a knack for taking everyday life situations, wrapping them in familiar and comforting tunes and then allowing events to deviate as far from the Leave it to Beaver norm as they do in the "real world" -- in my family and yours. But they do it with warmth and gentle self-mockery, not with the cruel and unsubtle sarcasm that's so prevalent in music these days. There's nothing wrong with being charming, is there?
	I N F O
The Solipsistics Whatever Makes You Happy Frigidisk CD
		Review by George Zahora

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