Review - Rubbing Doesn't Help

Raygun
June/July 1996

by Allison Stewart

Having both Michael Stipe and Bob Mould as producers early on in their career helped Magnapop gain some alternative cred when they most needed it; their unmittingly cheery guitar pop would have otherwise threatened to turn them into a sort of updated, co-ed version of the Go-Go's. Their second full-length release, Rubbing Doesn't Help, produced by demi-legend Geza X (famous for producing Dead Kennedys and Germs records and, basically, living to tell the tale), finds a grittier and far more formidable Magnapop than any of their past work would suggest. While the band is wise enough not to veer too far from the Sugar-y, hook-filled pop that made them such marvels in the first place, numbers like "Dead Letter" and "Open the Door" show a growing concern for Serious Issues (death, disease, drugs) that may help them stave off the irrelevance all chirpy pop outfits -- no matter how good -- face sooner or later. The record's few ill-advised acoustic numbers don't play to the band's strengths (like a knack for crisp, blazing punk pop, or Linda Hopper's amazing voice), but they don't detract from Rubbing's overall worthiness, either - even though Magnapop completists will note that three of the record's tracks already appeared on the band's recently released four-track EP, Fire All Your Guns At Once.