Every alternate review I pick a record that is “new to me” and this usually keeps the “new to me” section of my collection under a reasonable amount of control. Lately, it is far from under control, and beginning to spill off the sides of the shelf. Corrective action is needed.
Sure, I could just review only albums from the “new to me” section, thus doubling the draw-down, but that would take away the fun of locating those long-forgotten gems in the main stacks. No thank you!
Instead, I’m going to slow down and buy a few fewer records over the next few weeks while I catch up on all the listening. After all, the listening is the fun part.
Disc 1753 is…Untame the Tiger
Artist: Mary Timony
Year of Release: 2024
What’s up with the Cover? Mary Timony’s Giant Head, but this cover has far too much going on to be just another Giant Head Cover. We’ve got three multi-coloured gems, the Helmet of Hermes (likely magical), the Thirteen of Spades (n.b. not a card), and two tigers which, we must assume, are untamed.
How I Came To Know It: Timony dabbles in a lot of musical projects, and I am a fan of one of them (rock band Ex Hex – who you can read about more on my review of their album “Rips” at Disc 1332). This meant I was always going to give Timony’s solo stuff a chance.
How It Stacks Up: This is my only Mary Timony album, so it can’t really stack up. It does rank higher than both Ex Hex records in my collection, however.
Rating: 4 stars
How a record released in February can be such a perfect summer jam is beyond me, but for the past two days “Untame the Tiger” has been grooving me through a July heatwave with sublime intensity.
Timony is known for her guitar playing, and I have never heard her play better than she does on this record. The best part is how unhurried she sounds. These songs groove along like late sixties/early seventies FM radio classics, pumping out tunes that reminded me of jean cutoffs, coolers full of beers and braver kids than me jumping off cliffs into the lake to cool off. Always full of energy, never restless as a result.
The musical structures are a throwback to a bygone era of rock and roll, when songs were whatever length the groove told them to be. No judgment, just timeless rock and roll. None of these tunes sound like radios singles. Instead, they are a collection of every 45 B-Side you ever loved more than the A. Mellow, but so full of the feels that you just bask in them and rock out, unhurried and happy.
“Untame the Tiger” may be the first time I gave a whole bonus star just for the tone of the guitar. I already knew Timony was great from her work with Ex Hex, but here she strips things down a few layers and lets the guitar carry even more of the load. That tone is so rich and full and warm that just listening will give you a golden-brown tan. Don’t worry about getting burned – it ain’t that kind of hot, baby. All the songs are facets of that glorious tone, but the best example is the title track. Never has a tiger been untamed more gracefully.
Don’t expect any of these songs to be particularly complicated. These are just rock songs, played with excellence and honesty. The structures don’t break new ground. The opening track “No Thirds” may or may not have any thirds in its structure. I’d like to think it doesn’t but I’m way too rusty (and was never any good) at decoding music anyway. It does sound free easy and natural, and that’s what the record is all about, thirds or otherwise.
Like a lot of tracks, it also features a lot of heavy summer sun imagery, mixed in with lyrics that speak of loss and loneliness. It is just that with that guitar tone keeping you company, it is hard to feel alone. It wraps itself around you for a nice long walk on the beach with nowhere to go, nowhere to be, and no reason to care.
Best tracks: No Thirds, Summer, The Guest, Untame the Tiger
No comments:
Post a Comment