I’ve had a lot going on after work
lately and haven’t found the time to write this review until now. As a result,
I got to listen to it a lot while I walked
home for three days. Fortunately it’s a new album, and we needed the time to
get acquainted.
Disc 939 is….One Foot in the Ether
Artist: The Band
of Heathens
Year of Release: 2009
What’s up with the Cover? When tree line meets eye line?
It’s a red letter day? It kind of works but it also kind of feels like a photography
class project gone wrong.
How I Came To Know It: Last October Sheila and I went to
Nashville to see the Miami Dolphins and take in the sights. We were trying to
find a band to go see while we were there but we didn’t know any of the acts
that were playing. I started listening to any band that was in town on Youtube
to see if I’d like them. Two artists stuck out: Lera Lynn and Band of Heathens.
We ended
up going to see Lera Lynn because we liked her slightly more and because the
Band of Heathens had this ‘mystery’ show where they didn’t tell you the
location until a few hours before the show. When I got home I bought a Band of
Heathens album.
How It Stacks Up: I only have one Band of Heathens album. I’m
tempted by 2013’s “Sunday Morning Record” but for now I’ve just got the one, so
I can’t really stack it up.
Ratings: 3 stars
It’s
good when an album has artistic range, but if you take it too far you lose
focus. “One Foot In the Ether” walks that line like a drunk sailor; mostly well
balanced with an occasional lurch that threatens to take them off the edge of
the pier.
Fortunately
this is music, and no one is going to drown from an occasional misstep or a bit
of excess, sometimes it just makes it better.
But that
doesn’t change that the album has so many competing styles it is initially hard
to get into. Three of the five band members (Ed Jordi, Cordy Quist and Colin
Brooks) are songwriters and singers, and each has their own style doing both.
These range from an alt-country gravel to a Rolling Stones’ tinged rock and
roll and then to a bluesy Otis Redding inspired soul.
My early
favourite is the outlaw country guy, but unfortunately I don’t know who is who
since the CD has no liner notes, and the internet is equally unhelpful when it
comes to bands of this relative level of fame. Let’s call him Guy #1.
Whatever
his name, the album starts with a song by him, “LA County Blues,” which is a glorious track full of a restless
energy about slackabouts drinking their way through Las Vegas and (presumably)
heading home with a fuzzy head and empty pockets.
This
tone of grit and uncertainty is the common thread through all three styles on
the record but alone it isn’t enough to hold the record together. The recurring
country numbers by Guy #1 are though, and on “What’s This World” the band delivers another indictment of modern
society:
“We got mouths to feed and boots
to fill
Pills for sleep and dreams of
dollar bills
And we clean our guns while we
turn our cheeks
We’re like angels and demons and
dogs in heat.”
The
melody of both this song and “LA County
Blues” aren’t incredibly innovative but they make all the right turns to
serve the lyrics and ably underscore the themes they explore.
The bluesier
numbers (Guy #2? I’m not sure…) are generally good as well particularly “Shine a Light” which straddles a line between
blues and gospel and gave me visions of hobos down by the railroad tracks dancing
around a burning barrel. I have no idea why that crossed my mind, because there
are no hobos involved in the song, but that’s what I saw. It was a pretty sweet
dance number too, with the lead hobo resplendent in torn trousers, red mack
jacket and toque. But I digress…
“Golden Calf” is also a grimy bit of
blues rock, and someone calling for “eight
more seconds on the golden calf” is a great image, biblically ominous and thoughtlessly
self-indulgent all at the same time. My only regret here is the squawk box
effect on the vocals on the track. I think it is intended to evoke a 30s feel,
but it sounds fake. Worse, there is a live version of the song on Youtube
without any such artifice which is infinitely better. Here it is. Every
time I hear the studio version I find myself wishing I could hear the live
version instead.
Also,
while the band is incredibly tight there are times where they sound like a bar
cover band. This is ironic, considering that apart from a cover of Gillian
Welch’s “Look At Miss Ohio” these are
all original tracks. Also, they wear their musical influences a bit too
prominently on their sleeves. On “You’re
Gonna Miss Me” the band sings “Otis
Redding sang the blues the sometimes” and on “Talking Out Loud” the vocalist (let’s call him Guy #3) sounds like
he is doing an Otis Redding impersonation. The proximity of the reference to
the homage is a bit jarring.
Fortunately,
the album’s brilliance overcomes these minor annoyances with relative ease.
There are even a couple of optimistic tunes near the end with “Let Your Heart Not Be Troubled” and “Hey Rider.” While I generally prefer
this album when it is stripped down, I liked the fuzzy production on “Hey Rider” which creates a dreamy
quality that suggests anything is possible, even world peace. Sounds flaky but
you have to be there.
I gave
this album four listens over the last three days and I went from not being sure
about whether I liked it to knowing that I did. The Band of Heathens don’t make
it easy with all their shifting styles, but it is worth the effort in the end.
Best
tracks: LA
County Blues, Shine a Light, What’s This World, Let Your Heart Not
Be Troubled, Hey Rider
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