Column: The Best You’ve Never Heard; Satirical singer slaps society in the face
There are so many obscure musical histories that it can be hard to get a grasp on it all. Nellie McKay, unlike most of her 20-something contemporaries, borrows not from the post-punk tradition but turns to show tunes, cabaret, and light vocal jazz.
Always seated by a piano and always set apart by her low, rich voice, McKay’s songs forego heartstring pulling for head kicking. Lyrical wit and social satire are her tools, and she shies away from emotional narrative to embrace wit and bite.
Even the title of her debut, “Get Away From Me,” is a barb directed at Norah Jones’ first release, “Come Away With Me.” Every song on “Get Away From Me” pokes fun at, exposes, or just generally mocks a social phenomenon. McKay is more concerned about getting laughs than she is about getting her listeners to change, and that kind of “music for music sake” attitude is refreshing.
Eccentricity is the word of the day when discussing Nellie McKay. Her subject matter veers from a love song for a dog (the aptly titled “The Dog Song”) to a rap on pop culture (“Sari”) to the spectacularly satiric “I Wanna Get Married,” where she croons, “I want to pack cute little lunches for my Brady Bunches and read Danielle Steele.”
It is this painfully funny social commentary that allows McKay to succeed. She is the bridge between Randy Newman and Rufus Wainwright, creating brilliant caricatures and wedding them to smoky, piano bar arrangements.
Her first album isn’t perfect. It sometimes bogs down in its attempts at feigned precociousness, but most of its mistakes can be attributed to McKay’s only being 19 years old at the date of its release. Her recent six-song contribution to the “Rumor Has It…” soundtrack shows significant growth and reveals an artist who is just coming into her prime.
Zach Pendleton’s column The Best You’ve Never Heard runs each week in Diversions. Comments can be sent to him at zachp@cc.usu.edu.