by Rinjo Njori

When Matt Sharp decided to put his solo career on hold and resurrect The Rentals there was a lot on the line - not really. The Rentals were much better than the post-Sharp incarnation of Weezer - very true. They never achieved commercial success that Weezer easily reassumed in the late 90's with the Green Album - Amen Brother! After the announcement and mini-tour there wasn't much noise out of the Rentals camp. The only recording that popped up was a cover/remix of a Tegan and Sara song. Not exactly what die hard Rentals fans were expecting or should have expected. Eventually The Last Little Life EP was announced, with a new album promised for 2008.

How does The Rentals circa 2007 sound? Considering that the other vital cog in The Rentals, aka Rachel Haden, also returned to the fold, very much like the Seven More Minutes incarnation of the band. Completely erased from the song writing formula is the bleached out, moog heavy sound that dominated the brilliant The Return of the Rentals. Though Return's "Sweetness and Tenderness" receives a Seven More Minutes like tune up for unknown reasons. The difference this time around is that Sharp and Haden share lead vocal duties versus heavy backup vocals which dominated the original track. Still it's a bit puzzling why the track even deserved the "updated sound". Interestingly the other three tracks all begin with the letter "L". "Last Romantic Day", which opens the EP, runs the gamut in terms of instrumentation. Violins, keyboards, acoustic, and electric guitar all fade in and out the course of four minutes. Sharp's vocals lead most of the way and Haden can be heard quietly in the background. "A Little Bit of Everything" quickly satisfies the friends of Petra. Trading off verse or singing in unison the chemistry between these two is undeniable- equally feminine and masculine- this clearly isn't the Matt Sharp show. "Life Without a Brain" gives the best indication of what is "missing" from the EP and The Rentals overall this time out. The songs are all well put together but for the most part they lack the high intensity songs that weaved in and out of The Return of the Rentals and Seven More Minutes. There is no "Waiting" or "Barcelona", the songs are distinctly low key. "Life Without a Brain" and "Little Bit of Everything" ramp up nicely, but the big hook just never materializes. Luckily The Rentals don't need to rely on the big hook, but it’s always satisfying to hear Sharp’s crisp riffs.

The Last Little Life EP is definitely worthy of the inordinate amount of praise that was heaped upon the band when they announced they were reforming in 2006. The fact that Sharp and Haden were smart enough to capitalize on Seven More Minutes formula without making every song about their harmonizing, bodes well for their upcoming album. Hopefully they can muster up the energy to make the '08 version of The Rentals every bit as satisfying as the '99 version of the band.

Labels: The Rentals