REVIEW: Golden Smog, Weird Tales (Rykodisc)
- Christina Apeles
Weird Tales is the modern sing-a-long record of the year, but not the most original. The all-star lineup of musicians Craig Johnson (Run Westy Run), Gary Louris (The Jayhawks), Dan Murphy (Soul Asylum), Marc Perlman (The Jayhawks), Jody Stephens (Big Star), and Jeff Tweedy (Wilco), known as Golden Smog, offer fifteen songs that are so easy to sing to that it's uncanny; then you remember those things called hooks, hooks, hooks. Following their 1995 debut album Down By The Old Mainstream , Weird Tales proves that this collaboration is more than just a side project; rather, it is a serious venture to take the best of country, pop, rock and folk, thrown in with contemporary experiences, to produce songs that in general, make you feel good. Heavy on choruses, rhymes and harmonies, the tunes on this album are easy to remember, but impossible to place, reminiscient of songs from numerous bands of the past and present. Don't bother trying to name that tune or band, because you'll be doing it the whole album.
The opening track "To Call My Own" has the old Soul Asylum sound written all over it, with the raspy lead vocals, raw American porch rock and sweet-hearted sentiment, with its fair share of "doot, doot, doots" and "ooh, ooh, oohs" in the background. The festive, knee-slapping tune "Until You Came Along" brought to mind a mix of Crowded House, the Wallflowers and the Housemartins. Then there's the acoustic twangy guitar solos with a bit of blues, in songs like "Lost Love" and the ornamented country rock of "Looking Forward to Seeing You."
Of course, Weird Tales is not without its ballads. There is the melancholy nature of "If I Only Had A Car" and the lucid feel of "Jane," but "Making Waves" is what captivated me. The beautiful harmonies, violin, drums, acoustic and electric guitars merged together in the most darling love song. It is the most complex piece on the album with the instruments talking to one another reflecting the spirit of the song -- mixed, confused, yearning. The violin playing is tense, the drumming is reserved, while one guitar is dramatic and the other, repetitive. Meanwhile, the vocals are dark and emotional with lyrics of longing: "Are you in there? Hello, hello, hello . . . are you dying?"
"Keys" stands out the most because it is like nothing else any of the members' respective bands had done, or like any other tune on the album -- it is funky. Think Red Hot Chili Peppers meets the Monkees. The most modern of the batch, "Keys" is an upbeat tune with deep, breathy vocals, fuz-wah guitar, horns, and shout outs from the rest of the band; that out of nowhere breaks into an-Eels like transition into higher pitched vocals and drawn out guitar effects that promptly shifts back into the funky tempo it opened with. A bit of swing, jazz, funk and pop rolled into one from good ole' American rockers is something I didn't expect, but definitely welcomed. It demonstrated that Golden Smog is not just about somber acoustic ballads, country-tinged rock or folky pop harmonies, which is quite a pallet in any case. And although the majority of the songs on Weird Tales sounds like something you've heard before, Golden Smog shows they are willing to experiment, incorporate and expand into other musical styles, which is still a commendable move -- whether unique or otherwise -- they do a satisfying job.
