专辑简介

by Stephen Thomas ErlewineVeruca Salt was one of the greatest rock soap operas since Fleetwood Mac or Hüsker Dü, as longtime friends Louise Post and Nina Gordon had a bitter falling out over stolen boyfriends, stabbed backs, and general unpleasantness. Gordon set out on a solo career, while Post dug in her heels, retained the Veruca Salt name, assembled a new band, and recorded the third Veruca album, 2000's Resolver. The friendship with Gordon wasn't the only severed relationship Post endured between 1997's Eight Arms to Hold You and Resolver -- she also broke up with Foo Fighters leader Dave Grohl. Now, the title of the record may suggest that she's trying to resolve her feelings toward these breakups, but the album plays as a relentless, unmitigated stream of bile. Never once does Post let up her attack on Gordon and Grohl, except for when it loses a little focus and becomes a vicious attack on the world in general. All of this is set to music that's halfway between American Thighs and Blow it Out Your Ass and completely dated in 2000. By any conventional yardstick, this does not result in a good album, but it surely is a fascinating listen. There's something unintentionally strange and perverse about the record, like being assaulted by a half-forgotten, half-drunken acquaintance, intent on filling you in on every single excruciating detail of their miserable life -- at top volume, no less -- after you haven't seen them in years. And it refuses to acknowledge any changes in music since 1994, which makes it even more unsettling and compelling. That is undoubtedly not what Louise Post had in mind when she made Resolver, but at least she made an album with some character, something that many of her peers can't claim.