- by L. Jeanette Strole

Perhaps The Smiths were onto something when they called for DJs to be hanged, and discos to be burned. After all, the music those DJs ‘constantly play says nothing to me about my life.’ And there is an inordinate amount of terrible music lately. There are scads of frat-rock clones, whiney emo bands, crap rock, and pop punk pushers out the wazoo. Fine China has chewed on this lack of good music for a while, even incorporating it into their new album title, "You Make Me Hate Music" (Tooth & Nail Records). Rob Withem, singer, guitarist and frontman of Fine China, has made a noticeable shift; this frustration mixed with slight irony and humor comes out in his pristine melodies and wistful vocals. “I was just kind of perturbed about things going on in the music scene in general. That title kind of summed it up, but in an overstated way, obviously.”

Quite decidedly a rock album (with a proclivity for pop), “You Make Me Hate Music” showcases their desire to make something classic and memorable. “We were thinking about it. ‘What are the classic elements of rock? And how can we use them to mold them into our sound so that we avoid going from one extreme to the other?’ And ultimately it just comes back to the songs. I don’t want you to get the impression that we think we’re all awesome and that everyone else sucks. We know that we suck just as bad as the next band, but we’re trying to make something a bit more classical.”

Fine China’s songs mirror traces of bands that paved the way: The Smiths, The Cure, and The Pretenders. With this shift into guitar-based rock, Withem is still confident that their fans will not be disappointed. Much like their old releases on Velvet Blue Music, they have returned to a stripped down feeling. “We didn’t want to get pigeonholed into the whole 80s thing that we did last time. So this still keeps some of the elements that make us who we are. The last record was not a mistake; we wanted to make something that had a vintage feel. But this record, to me, is more of a progression from the last one. So hopefully people didn’t just like the last record because it had a couple of Moogs on it, or whatever. I hope people will realize that we’re still writing the same songs, and that we’re just in a different place, but that the songs are still good.” (And lest ye fret needlessly, there are still keyboards on the album.)

While their last release, “When the World Sings” was a collection of songs that they had written over a span of a couple of years, Withem reiterates that this album was written as a whole project, sparked by the central theme song, “You Were a Saint” with other songs written around it. Starflyer 59's Jason Martin headed up production, and offered his expertise in fine-tuning the overall sound. The last Fine China albums were produced by Jason’s brother, Joy Electric’s Ronnie Martin, but Withem felt they needed the change. Nevertheless, their appreciation for Ronnie’s style makes him certain that they will work with him again in the future.

“We always like to work with people we know. We knew Jason Martin and trusted him, and we like his work. Especially the guitar aspect. The kind of record we wanted to make is the kind of record he has been making for ten years. So it fit, you know? Everyone likes guitar rock. We’re hoping to make a guitar rock album that everyone likes, that won’t be alienating to a lot of people. And at the same time, we didn’t want to make a bland record. There is a fine line between purely making a song, but it sounds boring, or making a song that sounds kind of edgy and exciting but still is accessible. That is kind of what we’re shooting for. ”

So the bottom line is this: Fine China does not hate music. If anything, they love it in such an unabashed way that they’ll willingly make the effort to create the kind of music that we can’t help but like.