Bisbee-Snacks (1996)

(Art/ Photography by Jonathon Hexner; Associate art direction/ Layout by Amy Macintyre)

Here's a real treat-Bisbee's (named for singer/ songwriter Sam Bisbee) "Snacks". The stars aligned for this one; the rock gods poured a little bit of their sweet ambrosia cider mix into Sam Bisbee's gilded chalice, and he slurped it up like Cherry-Cola...and then committed this ethereal "snack" [insert pause for laughter] to disc.

I'll start you with this link to the Allmusic page as a sort of aperitif (you can listen to the audio clips):
https://www.allmusic.com/album/snacks-mw0000613578

Sound-wise what are we looking at?  Well, it so happens that Bisbee is/are excellent at synthesizing influences in a decidedly non-derivitive way. The songs feel/ sound eerily familiar...but good luck putting your finger on why that might be. That's likely why Sam Bisbee has been able to continue writing, recording, and growing musically to the present day. Is there a bit of Dave Matthews Band in "Disposable love"? A little bit of Third Eye Blind in the beautiful, surging "Turn Me On"? Look at the "similar albums" tab on Allmusic for a few apt comparisons (The Verve, Live, The Goo Goo Dolls, Lifehouse, Alanis Morissette, Third Eye Blind, etc...) and some absolutely laughable ones (Korn, The Offspring, P.O.D......AM I LISTENING TO THE SAME ALBUM?!). Have to scratch my head a bit there...

Thematically, I see a real disposibility/ transitory pleasure motif (making the title extremely apt and telling). The narrators are often struggling to find meaning and stimulation in otherwise hollow and temporary experiences. We start in a world dominated by, and connected via plastic commodities in "Middle of Everywhere" ("In the middle of everywhere, she's speaking into a hand-held plastic object, connected by a wire to a hole in the wall, which leads to an infinite number of other handheld plastic objects... "), move to "Disposable Love", and then eavesdrop on a sad "rent-a-lover" experience- "970-GIRL". Sounding pretty contemporary and relevant, eh?

P.C. Dominatrix is another great cut about stimulation, excess, etc...- a tongue-in-cheek narrative about a politically conscious dominatrix. Lyrics include:
"She likes to tie me up, and talk to me about the issues
She hurts me when I disagree-when I use an un-progressive attitude
She grills me on the plight of the homeless population
She beats me with both sides of her hairbrush,
It's such a strange sensation."

And: "It takes a world of pain to turn me on..."

My personal picks for best tracks: the back-to-back, one-two punch of "Disposable Love" and "Turn Me On".

Sadly, while Sam Bisbee's later albums are available on iTunes, "Snacks" is not. I will post images from the CD booklet/ packaging below. Note that the art credits are the same as those listed under the cover image. I'm really diggin' those charming pen and ink sketches of the band-members.