My first introduction to San Francisco's Tarnation came with the last track from Gentle Creatures, "It's Not Easy", a seemingly peppy country-style number which I disregarded completely. Furthermore, I was appalled to hear that this "country" band was going to be signed to 4AD for Gentle Creatures, though I now realize Tarnation is one of the most interesting new bands of the year.
Some have referred to Tarnation's style as "new country," but a couple listens to the album shows that Tarnation's chiefly country-western style lacks many modern country cliches, making it more of a throwback to the art of uniquely American music as it existed many years ago. Front-woman Paula Frazer has been influenced by musicians like Billie Holliday, Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, and Ennio Morricone, but has also spent time over the last ten years in the San Francisco post-punk scene with bands such as Frightwig, Trial, and Pleasant Day. Gentle Creatures consists of a similar, intriguing mixture of nostalgia and unconventionality.
Another thing the songs on Gentle Creatures lack is the feel-good, cheery attitude of a large part of modern country. Unifying the entire album is a painful retelling of the tales of several tortured souls ruined by their broken heart, their lost home, the slipping away of time, or some other form of darkness in their lives. Tarnation's ballads are some of the saddest in recent times. There is no glimmer of hope offered among them--just an unchanging, unresolved coldness.
Standout tracks include "The Well" (an dark, supernatural tune), "Big O Motel", "Lonely Lights" ("Dancing where the lonely lights are dim, holding on to just a memory of him."), "The Hand" ("There is a restless weight on me, in the shape of things to come."), and "Burn Again". These tracks show off the great songwriting talent of Tarnation.
Gentle Creatures goes one step beyond the 90's longing for 70's culture--it strikes to the core of the free-spirited music of the American west while bending the style slightly, transforming it into something not quite country, but something very creative and deeply moving.
