Nellie McKay reviewed
Nellie McKay
Obligatory Villagers
(Hungry Mouse)
Now that she has actually been part of a Broadway musical, Nellie McKay’s preference for Brill Building pop and showtunes could begin to hamper her.
Appearing: December 11th at the Vic Theatre in Chicago.
Having never seen The Threepenny Opera (with Ana Gasteyer, among others), it’s hard to say what effect it had on the half-hour Obligatory Villagers. McKay’s biting wit is still intact and it’s fun to read into her lyrics and assume a hangover from her Columbia Records debacle. Yet she remains elusive. On par with the activist streak she showed on *Pretty Little Head* “Mother Of Pearl” and “Identity Theft” manage to be playful and scathing, exhibits 1 and 1a when it comes to defining her craft. However, politics do not equal personality, and the difficulty in gauging McKay’s humanity robs Villagers of any real power (perhaps like the Democratic party). No one’d be stupid enough to suggest she box herself up like the cute, boring package singer-songwriters come in these days, and to imply these outlandish compositions are remotely perfunctory would be even dumber. But when the show’s over the melodies resonate — the messages not so much.
— Steve Forstneger
Click here to visit Nelliemckay.com, donate, and download a Christmas single.
