JSOnline.com Review
By: Jon M Gilbertson - jsonline.com

Do you recall the first time you realized that the overwhelming majority of popular art about romantic love had little resemblance to the real thing? And that this realization applied particularly well to popular songs about romantic love? Aimee Mann remembers, and she has spent much of her interesting career responding to that hearts-and-bows illusion. On Friday night at the Pabst Theater, Mann leaned quite heavily on “@#%&*! Smilers,” her latest chapter in that response. Like much of the singer and songwriter’s other work, this album looks for the emotion in quirks, idle moments, heavy losses and the occasional bright spot that, even when viewed through a skeptical squint, resembles hope or triumph. In a live setting, songs such as the gently chugging “Freeway” and the modern pop-folk lament “31 Today” kept the autumnal-afternoon shine of the studio versions, especially with Mann backed by a four-piece, two-keyboard band that included Paul Bryan, her bassist and current producer. Mann herself also held up well under live scrutiny. Her voice was a thing of steady (not honking) nasality, and she had a tendency to murmur (not slur) words together, but these theoretical faults were practical advantages — ways to approach difficult subjects with due caution. Read More...