Review
Musician's Homepage Review Mar-2-2001

If ever there was an artist with more bias in his favor, it's got to be Steve Tobin. We share a first name, a year of birth, and we both have a crush on Claire Forlani. Add to that Steve's unmistakable passion for music, which shows in his music as well as in his life. He was in a car accident that occurred after the recording of this album, an accident that basically mangled his left arm and left him in a coma for 3 months. He had to "retrain" himself to play guitar, a process that took him almost a year. Who the hell can say anything bad after reading that he had to go through all that!? Not that I won't try of course. :)

The CD I received was recorded in 1998 and is a collection of 4-track recordings that vary in quality from fairly solid lo-fi to "boom box with a microphone in a cluttered garage". This of course is a point that Steve recognizes and, in fact, seems to be rather proud of. In the liner notes Steve explains that he loves that 'Raw and Powerful "Non-Hollywood" Sound'. Also interesting is that this is an album of first takes. Steve is going for a live sound with this one, saying in the liner notes "I know that I'm not perfect and so therefore I refuse to let myself go into 'Hiding' after my '1st Takes!'. This philosophy definitely lends a very "live" sound to this CD, although I'm not sure that I agree with his view. I do agree that musician's shouldn't overuse the "go back and fix it" route. Too often this ends up leaving you with a musically perfect CD that is entirely devoid of any energy. I don't think that means you should limit yourself to one take though. Rather, multiple takes give you a chance to capture that "moment" that occurs when your band is totally together, when you are really reaching into the song and pulling out the heart of it. You're not always going to get that on the first take. It's a lot like how bands have good nights and bad nights when they play live. But I'll get off of my soap box now. :)

The CD has some great packaging, from the great cover design to Steve's energetic liner notes. The recording quality is definitely lo-fi - Steve cites Nirvana as an example and it's about the best example I can think of. The Mentals share a very similar feel to the "Bleach" days of Nirvana, only perhaps a bit less rehearsed. Also a similarity is that The Mentals are in fact a trio, with Steve handling guitar and vocals, Casey Breiten on drums, and "Jane Doe" playing bass. After viewing their website though I'm not certain if "Jane" and Casey are still in the group so I guess I shouldn't feel too bad about talking so much about Steve. :)

I'm personally a fan of lo-fi so the sound quality on most of the tracks were fine for me (there were a couple that were unfortunately very problematic, but I'll get into that in the next section). There's a lot of passion on here, but not a lot of originality - many of the songs share very similar patterns, especially the convention of "clean guitar opening then switch to distorted guitar". This isn't to say that the music is bad, some of the tunes are damn catchy, but it does leave me wondering what more Steve and The Mentals are capable of. If you are a fan of lo-fi, more in the area of early Nirvana than a band like The Olivia Tremor Control, then you should give this CD a spin.

I personally didn't find it something I would leave in my jukebox, but it did introduce me to Steve Tobin and to what hopefully will be a passion-driven and promising future for The Mentals. I look forward to hearing what Steve & company are up to now that he's got his arm back up to speed. And one last note, but I get the feeling that these guys have a hell of a live show, so check out their website and maybe see if you can catch their next gig!

Selected Songs:
Alien Sex Fiend - This was a good pick for a first track. Going with the live show idea, it makes a great opener. This track is a good example of a well done lo-fi production (which I suppose some would consider an oxymoron, but what do they know? ;) ).

Down - That Nirvana influence really shines through, including in Steve's vocal work. The "Because I said so" parts where the vocal and guitar pair up are well done and catchy. I really don't like the fade at the end of this though, especially after the first track's energetic close.

Without a Care - The "surf sound" is a nice change of pace from the previous tracks. Some very, urm, "interesting" vocals on this one too, with lines such as "I was drunk and you were there" and "Love comes in spurts". Some limitations in the production style are apparent here - the guitar isn't quite as "biting" as it could be, getting a bit buried in the mix, and the vocals sometimes come out too far in front of the rest of the music. This one ended with another bad fade.

Game Over - One of my favorite tracks, the chorus is interesting in that the chord progression sounds like Nirvana's "Something in the Way", only much, much faster. Which is a good thing, I like the sound, and I like the writing on this one. The "guitar solo" was also a nice showcase of Steve's guitar playing.

Valium - Great opening, this track has a very punk feel to it. This is another interesting piece musically because of the slow/fast transition. The vocal work is well done on this one, as is the close. Home - I don't know if it was due to limitations at the time of recording, but a lot of Steve's vocals on this CD are all over the place tonally. On this track in particular Steve spends most of the song in a pitch different then the song's actual key. The "Now I'm on my own" parts are well done though.

The Girlfriend Song - This was an odd track in that a good portion of the beginning is the band talking, getting ready to play, etc. If you didn't feel like you were sitting in on a garage band's rehearsal already, this track will fix that for you. :) This one also suffers from some fairly poor production values - once the music kicks in there is a lot of clipping and it's very hard to make out the vocals.

Just Like...(Live) - This would be an example of a poorly done lo-fi production in that it sounds like it was recorded through the microphone on a boom box. And from what I've learned so far about Steve, I suppose that wouldn't surprise me. :)

By Steven Schrader The Musician's Homepage Review