For the record 2/25/10

Artist | The Magnetic Fields
Album | “Realism”

Over the course of their 20-year existence, the Magnetic Fields, led by their notoriously dour songwriter Stephin Merritt, have explored nearly every genre of popular music imaginable. From jazz to punk, synth-pop to shoe-gaze, the Fields’ varied style has garnered them a reputation as a fearless and endlessly inventive indie band. Their latest album, “Realism,” the final installment in their “no-synth” trilogy, finds them venturing down a safer road with an uninspired entry into folk-pop. Merritt tries hard to salvage the album with his sardonic and biting lyrics, but, ultimately, the album crumbles under the weight of its hackneyed and often underdeveloped music.

One of the rare bright spots on “Realism” is “You Must Be Out Of Your Mind,” the album’s opener and best track. Although it borrows its melody and chord progression from about ten other Magnetic Fields songs, “You Must Be Out Of Your Mind” contains such infectious hooks and clever lyrics (“I want you crawling back to me/On your knees/Like an appendectomy/Sans anesthesia”) that its trite songcraft receives a pass. Unfortunately, on the rest of “Realism” a pass is hard to come by.

“The Doll’s Tea Party,” a xylophone-heavy waltz, hovers the shockingly thin line between a Raffi-esque sing-along and Victorian dinner music, neither of which suit the Magnetic Fields very well. “We Are Having Hootenanny” and “The Dada Polka” act as traditional folk romps, employing painfully repetitive song structures and nursery rhyme-like melodies that sound as annoying as they did when I was three. “Seduced and Abandoned” is the Fields’ take on classical music. The initial surprise of its incessant harpsichord, delicate horn section, and baroque melody wears off pretty quickly, leaving behind another frustratingly mundane piece. Simply put, “Realism,” with its short and all-too-familiar songs is an unoriginal mess.

The band’s use of organic instruments, traditional folk music, and a minimal album title, suggest they’re making a blunt statement about what “real” music is. “Realism” nobly challenges the hyper-produced studio garbage that Lady Gaga and Miley Cyrus pollute the airwaves with these days, but its dull, folky ditties just make me yearn for the artificial buzz of “Poker Face” and “Party in the U.S.A.”

The only tracks that warrant repeated listens are those that sound complete. Along with “You Must Be Out Of Your Mind,” “I Don’t Know What To Say” and “Everything Is One Big Christmas Tree” are polished pop songs, maintaining that wonderful verse-chorus-verse formula. On these tracks, Merritt, if only for a brief moment, puts folk aside and employs the catchiness and cleverness that made him famous.

When it comes to recording fully realized and quality songs, the Magnetic Fields have never been a consistent band. Forgettable tracks and throwaways pervade each of their albums, but while their past efforts, like “69 Love Songs” and “Distortion,” offered a number of brilliant songs that overshadowed or, at the very least, balanced out the filler, “Realism,” aside from a few notable tunes, sounds entirely slight.