Review by Josh Carter
3½ stars out of 4
After her hey-day with the one hit wonder Til Tuesday (remember 'Voices
Carry?'...didn't think so) Aimee Mann surprised everybody with her brilliant
solo debut, 'Whatever.' Mann comes back hard with 'I'm with Stupid'. (what
a clever title!) Mann being quite the performer, she doesn't hold anything
back, and 'I'm with Stupid' isn't any exception. We start off with
'Long Shot', where Mann hurls obscenities at a bad lover, but ends the
track by asking him to 'please love me more' and 'Choice in the Matter'
is excellent. 'You Could Make A Killing' is a beautiful song about
someone who has Mann wrapped around their fingers, and 'Superball' is
great as well. 'Amateur is an ode to someone who's not as great as they
think they are ('i thought you knew better but you're just an amateur.')
'Par for the Course' is a six-minute opus in which Mann solemnly tells
her lover 'i don't even know you anymore.' 'Frankenstein' is about the
actual monster, and 'Ray' is a love song to somebody who doesn't
even exist. 'It's not Safe' is the album closer, and Mann finally
rationalizes that 'you're the idiot who keeps believing in luck/don't
you realize that nobody gives a fuck?' This is a promising album by a
promising artist, and we can only hope Mann will bless us with music so
great in the future.
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