Review: Quakers on Probation, Every Living Thing

 Quakers on Probation

Every Living Thing

A

Quakers on Probation mix the perfect amount of cornyness and folksy guitar-based tunes to create an all-around enjoyable, relaxing album, entitled Every Living Thing. They sound kind of like the Beatles and/or John Lennon, circa 1965/the rubber soul era, but with a bit more folk thrown in. Some of the lyrics carry the kind of cheesy sentiments we’ve all sort of heard before, such as the line. “you used to like to throw stones at all the plastic people you said who lived in glass homes,” from the song “pay it forward.” When I first heard that, I thought, “gee, phony plastic people gettin’ ya down again, guys? Come on.” I wasn’t having it. But then, their chilled-out, raw tunes calmed me down and I realized that sometimes, there is a time and place for corn in this world. And Quakers on Probation seem to know how to do corn right. Plus, they balance it out with some of their more comical lyrics, such as the line from the same song, “pay it forward,” that discusses “heroes” who apparently “arose reincarnate in your madness and jumped through your cake, like ghosts singing ‘happy birthday fucker.’” What exactly does that mean? I’m not really sure, but I kinda dig it. Also, I would like to restate that the name of this band is Quakers on Probation, which is kind of an awesome band name. Oh and also, their photo on their myspace page features the Quaker Oats guy with a pirate’s eye patch. Just sayin’. They’re worth checking out.


-- Elena Solli

Host, "Fun Dip and Cherry Coke," Thursdays 10 pm - 12 AM on WGTB