When it comes to Nellie McKay I’ve got two pretty distinct memories.
First off I remember reading Ari Berenstein’s glowing review of Get Away from Me. I completely respect Ari and since he was so steadfast in his view of the album, I was confident that all of the hype I’d heard about Nellie was indeed true.
The second was when I was on a flight to attend a family wedding. For some reason I was listening to the radio program offered on the flight; I really have no idea what that was, so I guess it’s not really a “distinct” memory. Anyway, she performed some songs live. I want to say it was an NPR program, maybe? The point is that I was impressed—impressed enough to actually want to hear this album.
Fast-forward two years and I finally picked up the aforementioned album that was reviewed by Ari. Is it possible to be overjoyed and horrified while listening to the same album? When that album is Get Away from Me the answer is a resounding “yes.”
Let me start with what I didn’t like. First off, in 2004, the time of the album’s release, Eminem was still a phenomenon. And since Nellie tried her hand at rhyme at that same general point in time, nearly every write-up compared her to Eminem.
Ok, she’s like Eminem in that she “raps” and she’s got a wit, but she’s much more akin to MC Paul Barman than Eminem. Eminem has flow and rarely do you get tired of hearing his voice during a song, while Paul Barman is skilled but can only be taken in small doses. Much like Nellie’s turns on the mic rhyming, “Sari” is a chore to listen to. And it’s the third song. On a double album. I went from digging the album to wanting to rip my headphones out in a panic.
That said, nearly every other aspect of the album is great, with her use of a variety of musical stylings to great effect. The album is refreshing in that it’s never boring.
For me, the highlight is “It’s a Pose”, because it’s refreshing not only to have a woman break free of being framed as a sexual object, but also to openly attack the male gender. It’s clever and bouncy and pointed. And it’s also pretty darn accurate.
Except for the dreadful rapping, this double album debut lived up to the hype. Sadly it wasn’t a trailblazing effort and it didn’t revolutionize anything, but it stands up well a document of the time.
