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Sarandon, The Completist's Library

by Meredith Roberts
01/25/2008

Sarandon, an English pop trio formed in 2003, recently released a newly compiled collection of singles in the form of a 32 track CD & LP called The Completist’s Library. Released in December via Athens’ HHBTM Records, “The Completist’s Library” compiles the previous work of the band through several personnel changes. Before The Completist’s Library these 32 tracks existed on four mini-albums.

The tracks range in length from a snappy 42 seconds from “Janet and Susan” to a still-abrupt 2 minutes and 4 seconds from “Bored A Little Light Lunch.” And while “Bored A Little Light Lunch” originally sounds like the music that comes preprogrammed on the majority of keyboards, the track’s highly rhythmic nature later becomes complete with clapping and an intensifying fast paced beat.
The vocals stand out rather drastically against the snappy pop background. Several of the tracks are without vocals, but for those that have them, the lyrics are rather simplistic and easily digested. Thematically, the album addresses the band’s likes and dislikes in life and includes several character profiles of seemingly random individuals.

The band’s approach towards lyrics is most brilliantly displayed in track number 10, entitled “Politique:” “we have no idea at all / why cigarettes are bad for you / and why it costs so much to drink / and why you can’t hear yourself snore / and why it hurts so much to think. / We love to kick our friends / we love to lick your legs / we love so many things / and we love oranges.”

Listening to such songs is actually rather refreshing, eliminating any need for lyrical interpretation. And Sarandon, when asked why they created such short songs, describes it best: “Because there’s no need to make them any longer.” There is no excess jam-bandy guitar solo. Instrumentally, there is only the steady guitar, quick bass and the peppering of drums. The upbeat nature and smooth transitions of The Completist’s Library has the type of energy suitable for a group of eccentric twenty-somethings having a few drinks in their living room before going out for the night.

The best way to explain Sarandon, as they said themselves, “Sarandon are a pop band with a short attention span.” The mood of their music is hyper and almost uncontrollable – exactly the music one would imagine to be playing when there is a car full of kids stopped at a red light, shaking their heads as abruptly and radically as they can.