Ani DiFranco: Up Up Up Up Up Up

Righteous Babe Records

It's been less than a year since Ani DiFranco's last studio album, the highly regarded Little Plastic Castle. But winter '98 finds femme rock's indie cause celebre a bit short of quality material, both musically and, surprisingly, lyrically. When she's not hurling empty Reagan-era cliches at the state of the nation (“'Tis of Thee,” “Trickle Down”), Ani seems fully immersed in the cult of Ani. Fine and dandy for old fans, but I'm unmoved. When she coos, “The person who really knows me best says I'm like a cat,” in “Virtue,” I'm not caring. Later she confesses, “I've got a sadness that grows up around me like a weed,” and I'm still not touched. Why so? Lack of tunes.

The 13-minute “Hat Shaped Hat” or the equally trying “Angel Food” certainly don't help. But for all its lack of focus, the record's not a complete dive. The beautiful (but in need of editing) “Come Away From It” and the radio-friendly “Everest” offer fine, memorable tunes, and longtime fans not alienated by DiFranco's recent experiments with heterosexuality should find plenty to affirm throughout. But lengthy studio noodling and frequently pointless self-referencing has Up Up Up Up Up Up smacking of the kind of excess DiFranco lambastes America itself for. How long ‘til the next Barbara Manning record, anyone?

—John Pecorelli

Alternative Press magazine