Box-O-Car: Faster than the Sound of Speed

Box-O-Car: Faster than the Sound of Speed
Label: Veronica
Release Date: 2000
Review Date: 2002

Box-O-Car is a guilty pleasure. Essentially watered down new wave for girls. A David Bowie and Psychedelic Furs cocktail may sound like a good idea, except that more often than not it’s of the Shirley Temple variety. In a live performance they can be pretty convincing, especially if the lead singer is in full getup. Sometimes they appear lazy or a little bored. Box-O-Car sounds best after a few drinks on a night when they are feeling a little feisty. Faster than the Sound of Speed isn’t as good as one of those nights, but it will creep on you. Faster is well produced but a little self conscious when not pared with the visual elements of a live performance. Show favorites like “End of Summer” fall flat on the record. Skid Marks’s nasal vocals are part of what helps Box-O-Car pull off a live performance, but he doesn’t work it enough on the pitted aluminum sandwiched in plastic. If you’re going to attempt this genre, you’ve got to go all the way. The CD has some of the funny little noises and effects to help out.

“Spaceship” opens up Faster with a catchy tune that may make you remember the 80’s classic “Major Tom.” “Singular Sensation” is probably the best song on Faster. You’ve got to give credit to anyone who can sing “Sometimes I’m a red tomato… Some times I’m a mashed potatoe” convincingly enough to have you belting out the refrain in your car. By far the weakest track is the annoying “#1 Tonight” which has a weak vocal performance and even weaker lyrics. Fortunately, “Satellite” is one short track away, and a contender with “Singular Sensation.”

Without belaboring the point, Box-O-Car could have easily been one of those bands in the background of a John Hughes movie. Where those bands were often quirky for the time, Box-O-Car is only quirky because they are trying to make that kind of music twenty years after the fact. When Skid Marks ( Stop it, you’re killing me!) wails out his lament “You think I’m strange” it rings hollow because in this day and age of pierced heavy metal hip hop frat boys and metal goth, he’s pretty goddamned vanilla.

Despite the tone of my review, this CD didn’t leave my player for about 4 weeks after I got it. I’m a pussy for new wave, and these guys occupy a soft spot in my heart, mostly because of the audacity that they have in performing and believing in their music. Faster than the Sound of Speed was released two years ago in 1999, and Box-O-Car has a CD scheduled for release by the time you read this. I’ll let you know how it turns out. Faster has several strong tunes on it, despite the weaknesses. If you’re feeling frisky, pick it up.

Online Action: box-o-car.com
Online Action: veronicarecords.com

No Tech: Veronica Records 1573 Milwaukee Ave. PMB#468 Chicago IL 60622