CD Odyssey Disc 1224: Typhoon

I’m right in the middle of a very busy weekend of activity. Today I managed to squeeze in a quick trip to the record store where I found one album that was on my wish-list (Phoebe Bridgers’ “Stranger in the Alps”) and took a chance on another one (“The Unforgiving Sounds of MAOW” MAOW was an early project of Neko Case that I’m excited to explore.

But first, here is my next review. For the third album in a row we have more pop music.

Disc 1224 is… White Lighter

Artist: Typhoon

Year of Release: 2013

What’s up with the Cover? Dr. Rorschach: “Look into the inkblot and tell me what you see.” Me: “I see a moth, Dr. Rorschach.” Rorschach: “Why do you think you see a moth?” Me: “I don’t think I see a moth, I see a moth because there’s a moth, right there, sitting in your inkblot. I think your slide needs cleaning.”

How I Came To Know It: I read about this album on a “Top 100 Indie Folk Albums of All Time” article. I got a lot of great music through that article and I used to link to it, but the page got very buggy, so I’ve stopped doing so.

How It Stacks Up:  I have two Typhoon albums. Of the two, “White Lighter” is the better record so it ranks…#1.

Ratings:  3 stars but almost 4

There is a lot going on in Typhoon. “White Lighter” is an album replete with great musical ideas. When it works it is complex and inspiring, and when it doesn’t it is usually because they are trying to jam one too many concepts into a song that is already at maximum carrying capacity.

There are 11 members in this band and yet – strangely – the music isn’t even remotely ska-like in flavor. Instead it is like a mini-orchestra, mixing traditional rock instrumentation with a horn section, a string section and a bunch of other seemingly random things that they throw into the auditory soup.

As you might expect from a band with 11 people in it, this is not simple straightforward indie pop. The songs are filled with layers of sound, multiple bridges, change-ups and complicated arrangements. They all know what they’re doing and things never get muddy like they might in the hands of lesser musicians. However, the sheer weight of things going on still threatens to tilt the whole structure over.

When I liked them they reminded me of Ages and Ages with uplifting choral sections, and splashes of string and horn that provide the songs’ emotional underpinnings. When I didn’t like them they reminded me of Arcade Fire, with too many flourishes and a penchant for throwing in something weird into the mix like a xylophone that delivers a hint of smirky clever, but no emotional underpinning.

This is important, because band leader and principal songwriter Kyle Morton clearly sees this band as having an emotional resonance at its core. You can tell by the anguish in his voice and the way he’ll repeat phrases to underscore how serious he is, like on “Possible Deaths” where he looks at the stars and mournfully repeats “it burned out 500 million years before I saw it.” A good line once, but a bit overwrought on multiple iterations. My advice: say your great line once and then go write a different one.

But this is part of Typhoon’s sound, building a mood through musical and lyrical repetition and then shifting both to pull you through a song’s emotional journey. When it works it puts a knot in your throat. When it doesn’t work it feels manipulative. I felt equal measure of both.

On the plus side, you have “Young Fathers” with a mindful exploration of the mistakes and doubts and confusion we absorb as children and pass down as adults:

“I was born in September

And like everything else I can’t remember

I replaced it with scenes from a film that I will never know.

“When I blinked it was over

I was thinking my life would get slower

That I would sort this shit out when I’m sober.”

On the negative side you have the self-absorbed “Hunger and Thirst”

“Caught pining for the things that I could have been

I could have been a gold digger

I could have been a gunslinger

I could have been a little bigger

I could have been my own ringer

I could have been a pop singer (x3)

But what I am is the silence.”

Yes, Morton sings that one line three times which is ironic, given that he is a pop singer, but if that’s the point he’s making then it is a bit too on the nose.

For all the things that frustrated me about “White Lighter”, the record is a beautiful – if overly-ornate – collection of music. I expect it was a critical darling and for many it would earn an easy 4 stars. I would have been happier with a 10% less maudlin and if two or three band members took a few songs off but now and then but overall it is still a solid record.

Best tracks: Young Fathers, Morton’s Fork, Possible Deaths, Dreams of Cannibalism, Common Sentiments