Caitlin Rose Gets Arrested in “Only a Clown” (Song/Video Review)
Oh, what has gotten into our sweet little Caitlin Rose? Chain smoking, bad karaoke, stealing a mirror ball, driving drunk with expired registration, and the always smooth move of videotaping the whole caper so it can be used against you later in a court of law. I will give her credit for telling the occifer she was in country music because Johnny Law looked like a Tim McGraw fan, though I think we all could agree Americana would have been a more appropriate identifier for Caitlin. Or maybe she could have distracted the officer by engaging him in a repartee about the illegitimacy of modern genre names. Trust me, nothing can get someone unnerved quicker than genre talk.
Occifer: You play music? What kind of music? Caitlin: It’s really interesting that you would ask that….Hind sight’s 20/20, but I digress.
The only thing better than a Caitlin Rose song is a Caitlin Rose video. Then again I lost all objectivity long, long ago when it came to judging this girl. She could serve up a flaming cowpie and I’d be twisting words around to convince you to drop .99 on it at iTunes. I’ve been compromised by Caitlin’s spellbinding ability to embed the most sincere, most deep personal emotions into her music. Her songs claw mercilessly at your empathy. In fact, it really doesn’t matter what a Caitlin Rose song or video is about, I’m watching it on repeat six times while my dinner burns.
The video for “Only a Clown” is executed with great vision by Michael Carter, resurrecting the VHS format for texture and capturing the thin line between fun and forlornness that accompanies the freedom of the 20-something existence. Co-written with Gary Louris of The Jayhawks, “Only a Clown” takes a broody look into the awkward loneliness that social interaction can breed, but with an upbeat, full sound. “I guess it’s about the person who doesn’t have any fun at the party, but still sends you a thank you note,” says Caitlin.
Caitlin Rose’s new album The Stand In will be available on ATO Records on March 5th, but you can stream the entire damn thing at The Rolling Stone right now, even if you’re over the legal limit.
Stay safe out there kids.
Two guns up.
February 27, 2013 @ 6:36 pm
I’ve been waiting on this album for awhile. It looks like it’s shaping up nicely.
February 27, 2013 @ 8:33 pm
Sweet! I love me some Caitlin Rose!
February 28, 2013 @ 7:50 am
This video hits close to home for me. A couple days ago I got pulled over on my way to work, on my third day on the job. I don’t mean to be a heckler, but how is this country? Is it the downer/negative vibe? This sounds like some kind of cheesy disco rock that fell out of popularity.
February 28, 2013 @ 10:31 am
Nobody said this was country. In fact I went out of my way to say it was not country in the first paragraph. And Caitlin Rose has gone out of her way to say herself she is not country.
When anybody asked I’d just shout, ‘I write country songs!’ like a little asshole. But now, I don’t really know what it is. I can’t really fit anywhere else, so I just take the corner booth.”
http://www.spin.com/articles/caitlin-rose-breaking-out-country-upstart-mountain-goats-george-jones-arctic-monkeys
But in no way can I construe anything about this song as being “disco” aside from the appearance of a mirror ball in the video. Disco actually has a sound to it and is a derivative of funk music. I’m hearing none of that here.
Catilin’s upcoming album “The Stand In” has music on it I would consider straight up country, along with songs like this that are either rock, Americana, or non-genre specific. I will always be a music fan first and a country music fan second, as are most listeners.
February 28, 2013 @ 3:59 pm
Wanted to see what other media outlets were saying about this album, sounds for the most part like everybody loves it (sure came across a lot of references that I think may be putting the cart before the horse to a certain extent like calling her “the uncrowned queen of nashville” – I get where they’re coming from but…..) Here’s two excerpts / short reviews I saw that seemed pretty on point:
“Though some of the good-girl-gone-bad shtick has been sacrificed on the altar of go-for-it jangly pop, she’s still as good as it gets when she finally opens her pipes on “Dallas”.” (New genre name? “Go-for-it Jangly Pop”……)
“A smidgeon of Rose’s old spikiness is sacrificed, but it’s easily a fair swap for songs bulging with terrific hooks and killer choruses, all of which belie some melancholy content.” (Not so sure about that, I know that most folks are all about hooks / killer choruses [if you’re not sure what I’m referring to then turn on your FM radio & you will quickly find out] in my opinion a catchy hook / chorus does very little to make up for “melancholy content”).
I was just curious what the overall take on this album was (aside from our little corner of the interwebs here), and the majority of the reviews were glowing, which sounds like a good thing for her!
February 28, 2013 @ 9:56 am
“She could serve up a flaming cowpie and I”™d be twisting words around to convince you to drop .99¢ on it at iTunes.”
And you essentially did just that. I enjoyed her album, “Own Side Now” but this really isn’t country or even americana at all IMO; very hipsterish. I don’t shiggy diggy, to each his own though.
February 28, 2013 @ 11:57 am
Spoke too soon. Listened to the album over at Rolling Stone (independent seems to have taken it down) and it is indeed a solid album that has americana/country elements. Might want to update your article with the following link for streaming the album since Independent no longer seems to have it available:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/caitlin-rose-explores-matters-of-the-heart-on-the-stand-in-album-premiere-20130225?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
February 28, 2013 @ 12:18 pm
Thanks for the updated link, and thank you for understanding that Caitlin Rose is a sold country/Americana artist and it is in no way out-of-bounds to feature this song on this site. Sure, there’s a mirror ball and some “hipster” elements in the video, but I don’t understand how that would effect the sonic nucleus of this song to make it either “hipster” or “disco.” Nor should the fact that she actually does have some solid country and Americana songs on her album somehow effect our judgement on this song specifically.
Man, there is a weird vibe on this site right now.
February 28, 2013 @ 3:36 pm
She’s coming through town in a few weeks….I really liked Shanghai Cigarettes (the “related” ling on the RS website calls it twangy “MP3 Download: Caitlin Rose’s Twangy ‘Shanghai Cigarettes'”) but honestly haven’t looked that deeply into her material / albums. I’m streaming the new album right now and just can’t get into it, she definitely has a great voice (pretty unique sounding as well) but both the sound/production & lyrics/content just aren’t for me.
And this is in no way meant to be sexist/whatever but it seems like it would really appeal much more to females (especially content-wise)….of course a female artist is going to cover topics from the female perspective, and I don’t even know where I’m really going with this but it just seems really “girly” (Pink Champagne, Golden Boy, etc)
When I first heard Shanghai Cigarettes I really liked it partly because it was so different from the majority of girls in her (general) age range making “country” music, but as I listen to this it reminds me of Taylor Swift / ______ (Insert Name on Line) – it sounds like something that I would hear on the local “country” station and turn off / change…..
I’ve been on a duet album kick lately (Taylor/Rodriguez, Prine/Demente, Shovels & Rope). I’d really like to see her do something along those lines….just my 2 cents on it not intended to piss anybody off & like I said I wish her all the luck in the world. She’s got major potential and is still way young to have already made it as far as she has.
I would also probably like it a lot more had it been specifically labeled “twangy” by Rolling Stone lol (sarcasm…….just in case it doesn’t come off that way)
I’m thinking I’ll probably go to the other show that night…..but I will also give this album another shot tomorrow and see if it’s maybe one of those things that grow on you……
February 28, 2013 @ 2:50 pm
The way she writes songs is country. The song on this site a while back “I was Cruel” had a very country vibe to it. Her vocal styling and music might not always stay within country but the soul in the songs sure fits the mold
March 3, 2013 @ 4:48 pm
Occifer ???
March 3, 2013 @ 5:05 pm
Apparently this was more of an inside joke than I thought. Have y’all not heard of Jon Wayne?