REVIEW: Peter Case, Flying Saucer Blues (Vanguard)
- Jon Steltenpohl
If you're familiar with Peter Case, there isn't much point in reading this review. He's got a new album out. It's as great as his other albums. And it's time to get to a record store and pick it up.
If you're not familiar with Case, well, listen up. Case is a great "hidden" talent in the same vein as Dylan and Westerberg. He plays lighthearted music with a very "American" feel. This isn't the brooding and detached sound instigated by Uncle Tupelo. This is just fun music that feels fun to listen to. Case keeps it simple and straightforward. It's all about the song with Case, and there's liberal use of fiddles, horns, harmonicas, and banjos to go along with the standard acoustic guitars.
It would be tempting to call the music Case makes as "true folk" music, but so many elements of pop, rock, blues, and rockibilly weasel their way in that it wouldn't do Case justice. Like the electric Dylan, Case proves that "folk" music isn't just about a stereotype. Instead, Case simply makes music which is organic. "Black Dirt & Clay" is a perfect example. It's two main instruments are lap steel guitar and fiddle. Should be a country western song, right? Well, not really. It's more like an upbeat travelling song, and the beat has a little Zydeco feel to it. The lyrics are actually an innocent memory of digging a whole as a kid and then wishing he was back with his old friends. Case manages to be simultaneously excited about reliving his memories and melancholy about his lost childhood.
The first track of the album, "Paradise Etc," is filled with similar contradictions. Written like a triumphant lullaby, Case captures the essence of childhood in one verse. "She says so what & I don't care / laughs at the mention of underwear / gets mad & pouts when it's time to eat." Sings Case, "I'm afraid she'll run out in the street." But, dispite the silly mood, underneath the surface is an undertone of not knowing what direction life gives us.
Of course, most of Case's songs share such split personalities. "Cold Trail Blues" isn't a blues song at all. Instead, it's a soft song about a lost love. "It's almost like you never came," reflects Case. "I swear I almost lost your name / once you meant so much to me / I though your love would set me free." Another track, "Blue Distance", relates the bittersweet memories of a love that nearly was. Case, in a perfect example of the "folk process", uses parts of a melody often borrowed by both Dylan and Guthrie, and extends it with a sad chorus of pedal steel and harmonium. The comparisons to Dylan are even stronger with the extended, rambling ballad called "Two Heroes". Similarly, the cynical "Walking Home Late" evokes Paul Westerberg and "Lost in your Eyes" sounds similar to Elvis Costello's "Let em' Dangle".
Still, despite the similarities, Case remains uniquely original and fresh. He is a peer with some of America's best songwriters and performers. His lyrics are both insightful and aloof, and him musical style is free and unencumbered. Flying Saucer Blues is another great album in Case's discography.
