In 1996, Chris Holmes (not the one from WASP) released an album under the moniker of Yum Yum. A string and buzz-laden affair, it was promised to be the second coming of Brian Wilson with a side order of Bacharach. The actual result was more like the softer side of The Jesus and Mary Chain in a Dream Academy sauce. One lovely track, "Apiary", hit college radio long enough to push an estimated ten thousand copies off the racks and then quickly disappeared.
"Apiary" took "Just Like Honey" all the way back to the hive and some of us couldn't help but appreciate the song and the guy's cajones. Was it a little in-joke, an ironic commentary on pop music, or homage.
Six months later, an article appeared in Harper's that attempted to answer the question. Written by a friend of Holmes', it attempted to spin the failure of the Yum Yum album into a tale of irony by declaring Holmes' record as a joke played on everybody but him - that his claims of appreciation for the genres he appropriated for his album weren't genuine. The whole sordid story seemed like a case of sour grapes but who could be sure and who really cared beyond the folks at Atlantic Records who had poured much energy and money into promoting his record. No one, as it turned out. Even this "scandalous revelation" failed to push more units out the door or into the used cd stores where they've apparently lingered for twelve years since I found two copies this past weekend, a discovery that made me pull out my seldom played copy.
A quick google finds Mr. Holmes on MySpace, touting his next album and, in his pictures, looking just like the sort of asshole who would try a "double irony" move to boost his royalty return. His new music, however, sounds an awful lot like the "fake" music he made for the Yum Yum album. Perhaps he'll write a song called "Vineyard" for his next single. Until then, we can enjoy the lovely love-buzz of "Apiary", remixed for maximum promotional airplay.
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