Don’t Forget the Lyrics

New Pornographers

Jackson Free Press

May 5, 2010

The New Pornographers have long been the pop-music snob’s dream band. It is a guitar pop band, but is also able to seamlessly add layered instrumentation and multipart harmonies when necessary. The band is blessed to have three distinct vocalists in A.C. Newman, Neko Case and Dan Bejar, whose voices mesh strongly. Similarly, all three clearly have an ear for pop music. Because of these traits, letting any New Pornographers’ album wash over you for the first time is a treat. Regretfully, subsequent listens reveal a lyrical shallowness, or denseness, depending on how you look at it, that ultimately dooms the record. Their new album, “Together,” is no exception.

While technically always being a super group, the New Pornographers have become even more super in recent years. That is because the past half-decade has led to the rise of both Neko Case and A.C. Newman as solo artists. Case’s 2006 “Fox Confessor Brings the Flood” and 2009’s “Middle Cyclone” both rank among the best albums released in their respective years. Newman’s solo work, 2004 “The Slow Wonder” and 2009’s “Get Guilty,” similarly have raised him into the upper echelon of contemporary singer-songwriters.

The band has always been largely Newman’s project, as he is the chief songwriter on all New Pornographers records. Indeed, his sound and influence is all over “Moves,” the opening track on “Together.” It is a quality pop song with an orchestral guitar sound and pounding piano chords keeping time. The song typifies the two aforementioned strengths of The New Pornographers: the vocals and the production. Unfortunately, it also captures their lyrical weakness.

The subsequent songs continue to offer little lyrical substance. Good pop music lyrics, almost by definition, provide either instant accessibility or interesting abstraction, things that Case and Newman exhibit in droves on their solo records. “Together” offers uninteresting abstraction. The lyrics of lead single, “Your Hands (Together),” are as unnecessarily dense as the title itself. Neither the music nor repeated listens clarifies references to silver bullets and playing “scientist and vandal sweating either way.” Like reading a contortedly symbolic book or watching an overly plotted movie, you have to truly be invested in it to bring yourself to care. And The New Pornographers, as talented as they are, just aren’t quite good enough to do that.

Granted, some of the songs have a catchy enough chorus or strong enough instrumentation to sink under your skin. The final three songs, “Valkyrie in the Roller Disco,” “A Bite Out of My Bed,” and “We End Up Together,” are all affecting songs that will have you singing along. Unfortunately, you will not have any idea what your words mean.

The New Pornographers have released another solid album in “Together.” It is tight musically and continues to exhibit an assured pop sound. However, it’s not tight enough to overcome its lyrical inaccessibility. This fact sadly assures that while it will gain some kudos in the coming weeks and months, it will ultimately be forgotten in the pop music canon.

Original Article

Inching Toward the Present

Dr. Dog

Jackson Free Press

April 21, 2010

I rolled my eyes upon first hearing Dr. Dog‘s flagrant aping of The Beatles and The Band. Critics’ main disparagement continues to be over its derivative sound, and I was in no position to disagree; however, the more I listened to the music, the more I recognized that there was something going on here deeper than mere imitation. The band’s songs were well structured and the lyrics weighty, yet edgy. Furthermore, the evolution Dr. Dog displayed over its relatively brief career suggested it was only a matter of time until the band broke its own ground and shook the “Beatles clone” label. “Shame, Shame,” their newest album, is the band’s furthest push yet to doing just that.

Dr. Dog is a five-piece band co-founded and co-fronted by vocalist/guitarist Scott McMicken and vocalist/bassist Toby Leaman. McMicken delivers cerebral and nuanced lyrics with a restrained delivery, while Leaman leaves more to the imagination, both lyrically and vocally. Their voices and styles create an interesting complement.

While their excellent first two albums, “Easy Beat” and “We All Belong,” were considerably lo-fi—often exhibiting a synthetic hiss—“Shame, Shame” has followed the track of its predecessor, 2008’s “Fate,” in stepping up the production values. The multi-layered first notes of the record’s opening track, “Stranger,” are some of the fullest sounding the band has ever recorded and the song is all the stronger for it. It is a knockout opener, and from there, Dr. Dog never lets up.

On “Shame, Shame,” the band displays a new reassurance and experiments with a broader musical range than on any of its previous albums. “Later,” Leaman’s strongest song, veers as close to punk rock as the band has ever gotten. Featuring the fastest tempo of any Dr. Dog has ever worked with and doing away with its trademark ethereal harmonies, Leaman rails against a love interest who constantly puts him off. It’s an accessible song, and everyone can relate to Leaman’s palpable frustration.

This album covers various themes, but it’s at its strongest when delving into the topics of desolation, dissatisfaction and uncertainty. It’s a perfect triumvirate for the times we are living in, and the songs capture the emotions dead on.

“Shadow People” begins as an acoustic ballad about listlessness in the city and gradually grows in frustration and urgency until it reaches its foot-stomping climax. The haunting “Someday” is set inside the self-wallowing mind immediately post-breakup, and Leaman’s expressive voice is once again able to efficiently convey the gloom of our protagonist.

The tunes culminate in the album’s high point: “Jackie Wants a Black Eye.” An often-devastating song about loneliness and self-loathing, it strives to find unity within both. It’s poignant, but not maudlin, and its musical arrangement featuring gorgeous background harmonies and hand claps makes it work. By the time “Jackie” wraps up, it has become, oddly, the most life-affirming song on the album.

Getting the confidence to wean yourself from your influences is always encouraging. By stepping out onto its own and beginning to take musical and lyrical chances, Dr. Dog has released its best album to date.

Original Article

Movie Star Moonlighting

Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward

Jackson Free Press

April 7, 2010

There are many reasons for She & Him’s “Volume Two” to be terrible. To begin with, the face of the group is Zooey Deschanel. For those unfamiliar, she is the actress who had lead roles in “(500) Days of Summer” and “Yes Man.” She is the latest actress to be held up as the paradigm of “cool,” supplanting such previous luminaries as Kristen Bell and Scarlett Johannsen. The media increasingly look to these actresses for insight into new-wave offbeat style and Deschanel, apparently drinking her own Kool-aid, has not let them down.

Movie stars taking up music is a well-worn idea that rarely pays off creatively. Their albums are usually either straight-up bad, as was the case with Johannsen’s dreadful Tom Waits’ cover album, or the band is never able to separate itself from their celebrity member. Billy Bob Thornton had a well-documented meltdown on a radio interview when the host mentioned his film career while introducing the band. Deschanel strives to buck these trends with She & Him, and she is overwhelmingly successful.

She & Him is a collaborative between Deschanel and folk musician M. Ward. Putting herself under Ward’s musicianship and tutelage was a smart move. She willingly lets her vocals take a back seat to the music. The instrumentation and production is always foremost on “Volume Two.” Ward presents us with a slightly minimized and countrified Wall of Sound. Deschanel’s voice blends beautifully with the sound, allowing it to become part of the sonic tapestry as opposed to attempting to sail over it.

Aside from the standard country and folk instruments, the production features lush, symphonic instrumentation and beautiful harmonies. One can hear pangs of Dusty Springfield and Michelle Phillips in Deschanel’s voice, while Ward’s harmonies provide a perfect counterbalance. Thematically, the lyrics can bounce between heartbreak and playfulness without missing a beat.

Deschanel’s voice throughout the record exhibits an inherent vulnerability that adds to the poignancy of the songs. What she lacks in vocal range, Deschanel more than makes up for in expressiveness. In “Thieves,” the album’s opener and one of its most inspired songs, her vocal fragility and subtle vibrato inflections sells us on, and invests us in, her emotions.

The duo never let up after this early highpoint. “Don’t Look Back” could easily pass for 1950s girl group pop in both production and vocals, which I am assuming She & Him would take as a great compliment. The Caribbean beat on “Lingering Still” is a great change of pace and offers some of Deschanel’s most assured lyrics. “Gonna Get Along Without You Now” and “Home” both present a playful side to the group. You can almost hear Deschanel smiling as she sings over both these songs.

She & Him’s “Volume 2” is one of the most satisfying pop albums of the year. What it lacks in ingenuity it more than makes up for in inspiration. As someone who has never been a fan of Deschanel the actress, I have left “Volume 2” firmly in support of Deschanel the singer. Perhaps it’s time for her to quit her day job.

Original Article

Gorillaz in the Mist

Jackson Free Press

March 24, 2010

When Gorillaz released its self-titled debut album in 2001, the group had all the makings of a one-and-done band. It was being used as an undoubtedly gimmicky platform for a cartoon group, featuring one of the England’s biggest rock stars. Bands with this sort of makeup don’t last.

Except Gorillaz did. Granted, Dan the Automator (the producer) left after the debut, but Damon Albarn (lead singer of Blur) enlisted the production wizardry of Danger Mouse and released the outstanding follow-up, “Demon Days.” More impressive, rather than trying to cash in by releasing “Clint Eastwood 2,” Gorillaz was expanding its sound beyond the self-titled album’s confines. This evolution continues on its third release, “Plastic Beach.”

Gorillaz albums have always sounded post-apocalyptic. Listening to any of the albums is experiencing a world ravaged and destroyed by humans. It is a world dominated by sorrow and longing, yet occasionally tempered with occasional spouts of jubilation (hear the joyous “19-2000” on the band’s debut to counteract dreary “Clint Eastwood“).

“Plastic Beach” continues this aesthetic and, if anything, amps up the dreariness. The guest appearances are as plentiful as they are eclectic. The cohorts this time around range from the Lebanese National Orchestra for Oriental Arabic Music to Bobby Womack to Snoop Dogg.

It takes about four songs before “Plastic Beach” starts really rolling. Snoop Dogg’s verses on “Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach” by and large miss the mark, and the musical accompaniment is not as imaginative or adventurous as we have come to expect from the group. Once the album hits “Rhinestone Eyes,” though, it becomes clear that we have walked into the next step of Gorillaz’ progression. It is a love song that displays all the twisted, moribund beauty—lyrically and musically—we have come to expect from the group.

From here, the album amps up the intensity as the band delves right into its lead single, “Stylo,” before turning the show over to De La Soul on one of the album’s true emotional highpoints: “Superfast Jellyfish.” De La Soul shows once again on this album why they are the perfect hip-hop counterpart (short of maybe Kool Keith) for Gorillaz. Long aficionados of over-the-top cartoony rhymes and stories, they blend right into Gorillaz’ similarly warped sense of reality.

Lou Reed (“Some Kind of Nature“) and Mick Jones and Paul Simonon from The Clash (“Plastic Beach“) each also throw themselves headfirst into this world, and their respective songs also stand out as the best work they have done in years.

The one thing this otherwise excellent album lacks is a standout single. It misses the type of song that can lure new listeners into this post-apocalyptic wasteland, the way “Dare” and “Feel Good Inc.” did on “Demon Days.” “Stylo,” the lead single, is a good song, but it is far too abstract to get anywhere near the airplay of the group’s preceding singles.

At this point, however, Gorillaz doesn’t care about recruiting new fans. Its wasteland is pretty crowded.

Original Article