Smart Went Crazy...

Hope everyone had a nice weekend. Also, to those that play fantasy football, I hope your team did a bit better than mine. The “Jons Jiants”, as I’ve so cleverly named them, have suffered from the absence of Shaun Alexander. Regardless, if my team doesn’t end up in the cellar, then I’ll consider it a good year. I just don’t think Kevin Jones is going to fill the role of Alexander for a good portion of the season. Anyway, back to the music…

I’ve been listening to Con Art by Smart Went Crazy a lot the past week. The more I listen to it I begin to wonder why they weren’t absolutely embraced by critics. Maybe they were and I never noticed or whatever, but I’ve never seen it. It’s confusing to me because of the obvious connections between bands like Jawbox and Shudder to Think (same label, same style, etc.) who both got plenty of praise and still do. Nothing wrong with that though, being two of my favorite bands.

Regardless, they were an amazingly good band that, whether it’s a good or bad way to look at it, kind of bridged the sound of both the aforementioned DC bands. With the inclusion of a cello player (Hilary Soldati) and the incredibly sharp dark humored lyrics of Chad Clark, it was surely enough to set themselves apart from their label mates. However, their brand of eccentric post-punk was maybe not enough to get them out from under their shadow. Despite that, for those that do listen you’ll find a slightly hidden gem in Con Art, which was their second album right before they split after a tour in 1998.

Smart Went Crazy – A Brief Conversation Ending in Divorce [MP3]
Smart Went Crazy – Con Art [MP3]
Smart Went Crazy – Tight Frame Loose Frame [MP3]

After the split, members went on to form the bands Faraquet and The Beauty Pill. Thankfully you can still purchase both of Smart Went Crazy’s albums over at Insound. Definitely pick up Con Art if anything.