As I alluded on my previous entry,
I went a little overboard recently and bought this next artist’s entire
discography direct from the band’s website. So if you end up seeing a lot of album
reviews for this band in the next little while, now you’ll know why.
What can I say - when I fall for a
band, I fall hard.
Disc 1016 is…Milk and Scissors
Artist: The
Handsome Family
Year of Release: 1996
What’s up with the Cover? Where you might expect to see a
depiction of milk and/or scissors we instead get two dogs. Maybe they are named
“Milk” and “Scissors” although those aren’t exactly classic dog names.
How I Came To Know It: I found out about the Handsome
Family when their song “Far From Any Road”
was used for the opening credits to the TV show “True Detective,” but since
then I’ve delved pretty hard into their catalogue, as noted in the teaser
above. My mass mail order included “Milk and Scissors” (and a lot more
besides).
How It Stacks Up: I have 12 Handsome Family albums, which is all
of them other than one obscure German import. Of the 12 that I have, “Milk and
Scissors” is solid, albeit not my favourite. It could be as high as seven or as
low as nine depending on my mood. Let’s split the difference and go with eighth,
with the proviso I might change my mind later. I’m whimsical like that.
Ratings: 3 stars
Sometimes
you just feel an instant connection with a band, and so it was when I first
heard the Handsome Family, and most every time since. “Milk and Scissors” is one of those times; an
album filled with haunting vocals and dark and troubling imagery that is not
for the faint of heart.
This is
only the Handsome Family’s second album but their signature sound is already
starting to come into focus; ghostly, lilting melodies that snake their way
mysteriously through songs like a river winding its way through a deep forest.
This
album is the last to feature the band’s third full member – drummer Mike Werner
– but the Handsome Family are principally the husband and wife team of Brett
and Rennie Sparks.
Brett is
a gifted musician on multiple instruments who writes the music. His ghostly
vocals range from the urgent lover heard calling across a lake at night, to the
ethereal and tormented voice of a lost soul that drowned in it. He tends to
sing lower in his register, and the effect makes everything feel just a bit
more…creepy. His natural talent for phrasing adds extra gravitas to the narratives.
The lyrics
are a star of this show, and those are all written by Rennie Sparks. While I
love a good instrumental as much as the next guy there is no denying I am a
sucker for a well-turned phrase and a good story, and Rennie is the mistress of
both.
As with
any good tale, these songs have multiple layers. The tortured exploration of
mental illness on the opening track, “Lake
Geneva” is layered with the dread of existential angst of a hero of modern
science exploring the mysteries of the world:
“Albert Einstein trembled when he
was that time was water
Seeping through the rafters to
put out this burning world.”
After
all, if Einstein’s nerve fails in the face of the world’s secrets, what chance
do the rest of us have? It is delightfully fun spine-shivering stuff.
On “Drunk by Noon” we catch the desperate and
impotent energy of the addict:
“Sometimes I flap my arms like a
hummingbird
just to remind myself I’ll never fly
Sometimes I burn my arms with
cigarettes
just to pretend I won’t scream when I die.”
At least
that’s what I take from this song; Rennie Sparks’ lyrics are so thick and rich
they stretch your mind in a lot of directions. That’s the joy – and terror – of
them.
The album
also features songs about historical figures from early America. “Emily Shore 1819-1839” explores the
story of a woman who documented her agonizing death from tuberculosis
(consumption at the time) in a journal. “Amelia
Earhart vs. the Dancing Bear” imagines what Earhart’s last thoughts might
have been as her plane went down.
The
album isn’t all folk. There are also occasional rock elements, mostly in the
form of heavy reverb electric guitars. Although not as heavily
grunge-influenced as the band’s first album “Odessa” they are worth noting, and
add a rawness to songs like “Winnebago
Skeletons.” Despite this, it is
clear that the band has a solid grounding in very traditional folk music forms,
finding a way to explore those forms (here and on the many brilliant albums that
follow) in a way that is both timeless and compelling.
Even
when the Handsome Family is being derivative (as they are on “#1 Country Song”) they are doing it
deliberately. The song may be a very basic country song about not getting the
girl of your dreams, but the title makes it clear that they have their tongue
planted firmly in their cheeks. The Handsome Family could make commercial pulp country music, they just choose not to do so. While this decision has
likely not led them to riches, we – their listeners – are definitely the richer
for it.
Best
tracks: Lake
Geneva, Drunk By Noon, Emily Shore 1819-1839, Amelia Earhart vs. the Dancing
Bear
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