Jeff Marsh @ Delusions of Adequacy
There’s barely a hint of irony or cynicism on J. Kleinberg’s mostly solo release, not in the sometimes kitschy lyrics, not in the album title Must Have Fun, and not in the moniker he chose for this project, Happiness. Some musicians obviously have fun when playing and recording, but Kleinberg makes it an art form. He doesn’t take his songs seriously, and thus he doesn’t take himself seriously, but his approach is still completely straight, filled with unexpected sincerity.

The formula evokes images of early Beck, mixing acoustic guitars, fiddles, and synths over trashy hip-hop beats, and Kleinberg’s vocal delivery – never wavering toward the silly despite his often silly themes – hints at Jonathan Richman or even Mike Doughty. But it’s really the focus of his songs that is the obvious focus here. He touches on a number of serious issues behind songs that are overtly about Princess Leia, sports utility vehicles, and fruit.

It’s not easy to delivery lines like “Oh Princess Leia, won’t you take us away from this day’s loneliness and acne” with the kind of sincerity that Kleinberg does, turning this from a cheesy gimmick song to one of about adolescent fantasy. “Sports Futility Vehicle” is presented like an honest and moving ballad, rich with fiddle and sentimental singing. “I Love You” is probably the ultimate mix of styles that the other songs merely hint to. This track is perfect in flow, beat, and instrumentation, and the sincerity of its theme is again evident (other than, perhaps, the over-the-top smarmy spoken piece by the end).

“Tractor” doesn’t feel silly at all, and it’s perhaps the album’s most rich and vibrant track in its back-home folksy feel. “Crazy Bird Whistle” is light and playful, with teasingly cheerful lyrics and a nice mix of guitars and trash-can-sounding percussion. The warm “Lost Indian” is a wonderfully modern folksy instrumental, and Kleinberg proves his singing abilities on the unfortunately loose “Nervous Bird,” which makes me wonder what would happen if he made a more traditional album. Unfortunately, the flow to “The Springs on My Roommate’s Bed” belies a clever theme and some nice banjo. The song just can’t decide what it wants to be.

It’s the little touches that I appreciate, like the soft violin on “Princess Leia,” the authentic folk banjo of “Wishbone,” and the rich banjo that’s only perhaps too subtle on “KC Moan.” If these instrumental touches sound surprising, note that Kleinberg has played violin and viola with Beulah, Paula Frazier, 86 the Band, and others. The end result may seem a little silly on the surface, but explore the rich instrumentation, the breadth of styles, and the themes beneath that surface, and you’ll find one unique musician that’s entertaining while simply having fun.



J-Sin @ Smother.net
Shouting the mantra that Andrew WK employs with their album title “Must Have Fun”, Happiness is one of those bands on Keep Recordings that makes you just shake your head in disbelief. Disbelief that music this good hasn’t properly reached the masses yet. Sure their moniker is almost ironic but they’re not wallowing in despair either. I mean who else could put hip-hop beats alongside fiddles and indie rock? Surely not Beck nor any other of the major’s elite “indie” rockers. This is lo-fi indie apartment rock at its very finest. Kudos to Keep Recordings for putting it out.



BY @ Shmat
What was that line that ES sang again... "all I want now for you and me is happiness." I think that might be the theme for a lot of bands, just to be happy and play great music and make other people happy. This band (the daring duo of J. Kleinberg and his trusty minidisc player) takes it a step further by actually naming them(him)selves "Happiness" and then naming this album off of Keep, Must Have Fun. What's in a name? Plenty. The themes of the songs are certainly crazy enough to bring a smile to your mind. Variously, Kleingberg muses about Princess Leia, cantaloupes, dirty socks, and SFV (that's sports FACILITY vehicle). One thing I actually really dig about the songs, is that however wacky the titles are, they actually have something to do with the content of the songs. It is somewhat of a letdown when you get a really inventive title for a song and then find out that it has nothing to do with the actual song!



Not so here. For instance, "Princess Leia" is indeed a semi-rap about Princess Leia, complete with Star Wars voiceovers and samples. "Wishbones" is a down-home country R&B hoedown about wishbones. I'm not too familiar with the semi-camp scene; my experience is limited to They Might Be Giants and Moxy Fruvous discs, which is why you'll hear me reference bands like that whenever listening to a disc such as this. What I like about Happiness is that all the goofiness is surrounded by great musicianship, including various string parts for viola (or is that fiddle) and other instruments. This has the effect of mellowing out some of the "randomness" of the themes. I guess a lot of people, being at a loss to describe the music, might allude to Beck but I don't really see that here except in the slight melding of hip hop beats and pretty little country flourishes. The only other possible way I can compare music like this is to some of the Elephant6 stuff, and seeing as how Kleinberg has indeed played violin previously with Beulah, perhaps that's not too far off the mark.

Lonesome whistling paired with hopalong cowboy beats works well in the instrumental "Augustus" while "Sports Facility Vehicle" features monotonic mumblings a la Lou Reed with some great fiddle. Other standouts include the mandolin influenced "Crazy Bird Whistle" and the hushed ballad "Nervous Bird" with strange little echoed percussion in the background. In the end, it really works. All the goofy bands that have sent us CDs that we've ended up trashing in frustration can take a page or two from Kleinberg's project; you don't need to keep hitting the damn funny bone so many times to make really good music.



Jeremy Searle @ Americana UK
Strangely uplifting low-fi leftfield pop. This is one of the oddest albums that I’ve come across for while. At first sight it appears to be one of those irritating “aren’t we clever” sub-They Might be Giants offerings, with song titles like “Princess Leia” and “Sports Utility Vehicle”. Add in sleeve notes that proclaim the bands intent “to bring joy and happiness to all” and the heart sinks. But appearances can be deceptive, and it actually all works, and it does indeed bring happiness. “Princess Leia” turns out to be a tale of adolescent sexual longings that will strike a chord with many men of a certain age, and it’s wryly funny to boot, while “Sports Utility Vehicle” is probably the quietest protest song I’ve come across, and all the more powerful because of it. Musically it’s all very lo-fi, and something of a liquorice allsorts of styles, with talking blues sitting next to college rock sitting next to folk sitting next to, well you get the idea. There’s lots of fiddle and also a bit of sampling, something that I normally hate but here it fits perfectly. The vocals are very Jonathan Richman as filtered through Cornershop (“Cantaloupe Honeydew” in particular owes a significant debt to “Brimful of Asha”). Overall though its best described as literate pop, something that’s in sadly short supply at the moment, which makes albums like this all the more welcome. So, it does exactly what it says on the tin. Well worth acquiring.



Matt Shimmer @ Indieville
Must Have Fun has a lot in common with The Eels and Sparklehorse in terms of melodic lushness, but it also boasts a loose relaxedness that is completely devoid of tension. Happiness plays folk-pop with equal parts folk and pop, though there's also an obsession with electronic hip-hop-style beats and frequent background fiddling here. The melodies are a strongpoint, and their joyful delivery works wonderfully.

The press release lists Jonathan Richman and early Beck as points of comparison, but I still can't shake the Eels connection. "Sports Facility Vehicle" and "The Springs on my Roommate's Bed" particularly exemplify this. Some of the more country-based, fiddle-heavy tunes stray from the Eels style, but there's a basic similarity there. Ultimately, I can't imagine myself listening to this until the end of time; however, for a solid folk/fiddle/pop record, you can't go wrong.