The Posies learned to rock on 1993's
Frosting on the Beater, where their splendid hooks and creamy harmonies were matched with towering walls of guitar that made them sound like power pop supermen. The lessons they learned were clearly audible on their next album, 1996's
Amazing Disgrace, but the tone was dramatically different. Where
Frosting on the Beater was overflowing with the fuzzy joy of big loud rock,
Amazing Disgrace feels edgy, filled with anxiety and bad feelings, and while beefed-up electric guitars still dominate the mix, the tone is sharper and more brittle, adding an undercurrent of punky venom that roughed up the surfaces of their peerless pop songwriting.
The Posies were struggling with severe interband tensions and troubles with their record label while they wrote and recorded
Amazing Disgrace, and it's not hard to hear the rancor informing the songs and the performances. "Hate Song" and "Everybody Is a Fucking Liar" wear their disgust on their sleeves, and even the relatively warm numbers like "World," "Precious Moments," and "The Certainty" seem deeply downbeat beneath their well-crafted exteriors.
Amazing Disgrace is
the Posies' Bad Karma album, but that is a big part of what makes it so memorable. If the emotions aren't especially positive, they lit a fire under this band and there's a strength and drama in the ensemble playing
the Posies rarely touched. This lineup of the band -- founders
Jon Auer and
Ken Stringfellow joined by bassist
Joe Skyward and drummer
Brian Young -- crackles with energy and ferocity, and producer
Nick Launay captured it all with admirable grit and clarity. The fact
the Posies actually managed to record and release another album after this (1998's
Success) is far more remarkable than the fact they broke up, but
Amazing Disgrace is a stellar example of how rage can fuel an artist into creating something remarkable, and if it's not always easy to listen to, it's genuinely rewarding. [In 2018,
Omnivore Recordings released a special expanded and remastered edition of
Amazing Disgrace that included 23 bonus tracks. While a handful of single sides, compilation tracks, and alternate takes and mixes are included, the bulk of the extra material is composed of
Jon Auer and
Ken Stringfellow's original demos, and though casual listeners may not need so many variant recordings of these songs, they do offer serious fans a compelling look into how the tunes took shape. And the liner notes are both fascinating and candid, with
Auer and
Stringfellow speaking on the record about the personal conflicts that informed the album.
Omnivore's edition of
Amazing Disgrace is as definitive as anyone could ask for, and it's a fine starting point for a reevaluation of this strong but misunderstood work.] ~ Mark Deming
