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The Burdens Of Being Upright
03/19/1998 3:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Bill Holdship
Tracy Bonham has been making waves on the Boston music scene for several years now, taking home three Boston Music Awards in 1995 for her independently-released debut EP The Liverpool Sessions. Problem was, when Bonham's publicists tried to alert national rock writers to this regional sensation, major confusion frequently ensued. Tracy BONHAM? Oh, is that John Bonham's daughter? Jason Bonham's sister? The one who accepted for her dad at the Rock `N' Roll Hall Of Fame? And Tracy didn't help the confusion any by not only giving her EP a title with British connotations, but by opening many of the shows on her first national tour with a cover of Led Zep's "Kashmir." Now that she's making her major label debut, the confusion surrounding this artist's name will undoubtedly be cleared up. Unfortunately, Bonham is still destined to live in the shadow of another major recording artist--namely Alanis Morissette. Which probably isn't fair, since Bonham has obviously been doing what she does for as long as, if not longer than, Morissette--but the "You Oughta Know" gal got to the top of the charts first. But life ain't fair--and the contents of The Burdens Of Being Upright demonstrate that Bonham definitely knows the score. The LP kicks off with "Mother Mother," a letter home to mom about living in the cruel, hard world--and perhaps the best prodigal child tune to be had since Steve Forbert's Alive On Arrival LP. Its refrain of "I'm hungry/I'm dirty/I'm losing my mind" is likely to become quite familiar in 1996, as should the line about "lifting my skirt." The latter line reveals that Bonham isn't as graphic lyrically as Morissette--although lines like "So you fucked all" ["Tell It To The Sky"], "You're the one/That froze the sun/Say you love me/As you pull the trigger" ["The One"] and "She kisses harder than me" ["Kisses"] will make you think of this year's Grammy-nominated diva, as will the shrieks, screams (mixed with pop hooks here and there) and post-grunge noise rock. Actually, Bonham seems more interested in existentialism than revenge--best illustrated in songs like "Sharks Can't Sleep" (a parable about "sharks" and "snakes" in everyday life) and "Navy Bean" (which could confuse matters again with its Led Zep-like instrumental intro!). And thanks to bad timing--and Morissette--Tracy Bonham ultimately may be stuck with the undesirable tag of "too little too late."
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