Music Review // Eric Hirshberg "More Is Not The Answer"

When listening to and thinking about "More Is Not The Answer" by Eric Hirshberg I am always reminded of modern technology versus how things used to be made to last.  Look at something that seemingly most people have such as a computer.  Wouldn't it be nice if you could buy one computer, continue to update it and never need another one.  But eventually, the technology becomes obsolete and this forces you to buy a new one, keeping the computer companies in business.  What's more interesting is how this album cover features a phone and we have people buying the new iPhone just because it's trendy when their current model is still fine.  That's the sort of waste I think of this album being about.

A lot of these songs were released prior to this album as singles, so if you've been paying attention you can now hear them fit into place.  It's that bass line and almost new wave sound mixed with big percussion.  The titular track feels so ominous, but also it does deliver the lyrics: "I never would have guessed that we would be a little happier when we had a little less".  The song also mentions a fire at first and I can tell you firsthand that you never really know how much you have until you have to move it all yourself.  At that point, you really begin to question why you have a lot of what you do.

With sweet guitar solos at times this music just flows with the messages of the songs.  There are stories and morals being told in a way which you will want to hear and that's important because you should hear them.  I struggle with this idea of having less only because I believe in physical media over the streaming options and so I think I shall always be weighed down by my books, records, CDs and cassettes.  Though I wish we could go back to that time before recorded music where if you wanted to hear a musician you had to hope they were coming close to you.  Back when we watched movies in theaters but didn't own them at home.

Right now we might not be able to have everyone be rid of everything but the best we can hope for is people scaling back at least.  The final song on this album leaves you with the words: "Live your life / Do your best / Fall in love / Ignore the rest" and I feel like the world could be a better place if more people did that.  Think of how many people used to go shopping in the United States the day after Thanksgiving and all the fights that would break out.  We're designed to always want more, but I believe (and this album reassures that) when we stop wanting we will begin to truly live.