REVIEW: Far Too Jones, Picture Postcard Walls (Mammoth)
- Scott Slonaker
Hundreds of bands play good ole-fashioned, sing-along, tear-in-yer-beer barroom guitar rock. Most only make a modest living, playing every dive from here to Flagstaff. Some get signed. And, every now and then, someone rides the style to the top of the charts.
I guess that I don't want to spend the entirety of this piece comparing Raleigh, NC's Far Too Jones to their Southern neighbors Matchbox 20. The bar-rawk style is so common that no one can be accused of ripping off anyone else- none of you thought of it first, okay? That's not the issue with this sort of music.
But, the undeniable fact is that some of the songs on Picture Postcard Walls could very easily be mistaken for Matchbox 20 or Emmet Swimming. One listen to the first single, "As Good As You" may not reveal much, but, just like with "3 AM" and "One Headlight", future spins will hook you. "As Good As You" is a soaring, melodious treat, full of lyrical platitudes ("Everyone will live on time/Through these limbs I watched you climb") just ripe for attaching your own deeply personal meaning. And that's the secret of why these songs hook people.
Singer Christopher Spruill's mid-range, husky wail is familiar and comforting territory, with occasional chesty bellows a la Darius Rucker and Eddie Vedder. Producer Gavin MacKillop helps make the band's above-average backing vocals sound quite good. The problem - well, we're getting to that.
An odd thing becomes apparent after a few spins of this record. Every track is such a polished, radio-ready shiner that everything, even on subsequent listens, runs somewhat together. Is it possible to have too many singles on an album? Taken individually, tunes like the ballad "Stoned and Reeling" and the midtempo "Middle of Me" are perfect, but maybe having too much perfection on one album creates some sort of musical law of diminishing returns.
So, then, perhaps Far Too Jones should not try quite as hard on their next album. Tune the instruments less. The bass player could hire his cousin Billy Bob to produce. Something, anything, to mar the shine just enough to give some more character.
I still recommend Picture Postcard Walls to fans of the style, and it's a crime that some of these songs haven't made it to radios nationwide, but this record is best served in bite-sized chunks.
