Not Good Enough
If you’re looking for garage rock with a serious slant, then Chain & the Gang’s new release, Music’s Not For Everyone might not be for you. Frontman and mastermind Ian Svenonius is known for his caustic humor, and this album is no exception. His bitter monologues and malicious lyrics are certainly the main attraction of the record. Opening track “Why Not,” an ode to defeatism and apathy, sets the mood atop funky, slow-change blues and a scorching harmonica solo as Svenonius’ distorted vocals explain just how little of a damn he gives about anything. In the next track, “Not Good Enough,” the negativity is turned against the listener with a chorus consisting of Svenonius and secondary vocalist Sarah Pedal jeering, “If you feel like you’re not good enough / Well you’re probably not / And you know what? You never ever will be.”

Filtered through the sounds of ‘70s-era Detroit garage rock, dreamy-eyed beach rock and dub, the rest of the album goes on to demolish common conceptions of love (“For Practical Purposes I Love You”) and mercilessly criticize the casual music listener (“Music’s Not For Everyone.”)

Despite all the pessimism, though, one gets the distinct impression that the record is all very tongue-in-cheek. But in satire, there is always truth, and Svenonius is not just trying to be funny: he very clearly has something to say about what the world has come to.