This came out in 1999 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Nothing gets old faster than a joke.
Especially a topical joke — who needs to hear one-liners about Tonya Harding, O.J. Simpson or Monica Lewinsky any more? Sadly, that’s what musical satirist Wainwright (perhaps better known these days as Rufus’s dad) has to offer on his new disc Social Studies, a collection of years-old tunes written to order for U.S. public radio and other outlets. There’s no denying Loudon’s wit and tongue are as sharp as ever, but with the exception of the funky millennium-bug ditty Y2K, listening to this is like watching a two-year-old late-night TV monologue. Come on, Loudon: If Weird Al can put out a Phantom Menace song while the movie’s still in theatres, so can you.
