Kimya Dawson
Waterloo Records, Friday, March 13Kimya Dawson looks a little like a cross between Macy Gray and King Buzzo of the Melvins. Musically, if she had been anything close to that hybrid, she might have been worth the time. Instead, she comes off like the anti-folkster version of the late Wesley Willis. It’s the same type of literal songwriting with a similar type of childlike innocence to it, only in Dawson’s case, the music goes from endearing to slightly annoying in about two songs. After that, it’s not that funny, it’s not that cute, and it’s not even that musically interesting to distract you from the fact that it’s no longer funny or cute. Dawson’s in-store set was a reminder that maybe you can be too literal. And when you’re schtick is that you’re a children’s show for adults, people are eventually going to realize that the arrested state of development gets overexposed quickly. Dawson would do well to lap up the attention that comes from being part of Juno‘s charming soundtrack, because at some point people will realize, “Hey, this is actually kind of remedial.”
This article appears in March 14 • 2008.