AIMEE MANN
@#%&*! Smilers
(SuperEgo)
By Todd Lavoie
“Turn that frown upside down! Smile! Be happy!”
Aarggh, I can’t stand phony happy-smiley types, either, Aimee. This isn’t to say I’m in a constant state of mopeyness – perish the thought! – but I don’t exactly see the point in refusing to acknowledge a little melancholia when it sets in from time to time. Why deny it if I’m feeling it? I used to work with someone who would carp and crow away – practically shouting up into the sound system overhead – in response to every song which failed to blow rainbow-pony kisses for its entire three-minute duration. Upon hearing even the faintest allusion to sadness or anger or frustration, away she’d go with cries of, “Oh, why can’t you just be happy!” See, it’s as simple as that: paint on a smile and greet the world grinning from ear to ear. Flick of the switch. Life as one endless loop of Katrina and the Waves’ “Walking on Sunshine.”
Mann’s new album, @#%&*! Smilers, probably won’t win the heart of my former co-worker – wherever she may be, blinders on and her frown firmly fixed upside down – but it probably will do all sorts of fiendishly wonderful things to the hearts of those who aren’t afraid to recognize the scrapes, stumbles, and scabby knees of life. The title alone should be a tip-off – a snide, willfully rude poke with a sharp stick into the eyes of ever-cheerful folks who insist upon everyone smiling along with them, it practically revels in antagonizing the superficial shiny-happy pop song.
Aimee Mann takes the “Freeway.”