John Madden
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When I agreed to review James’ ‘Hey Ma’, I was excited to do it. James were one of those bands that was compulsively likeable when I was growing up and, despite not having paid much attention since their ‘Best of...’ compilation came out a few years back, I couldn’t wait to hear it. And then, I could. The minutiae of life piled up between overtime, home improvements and requests to pitch for other projects. My iPod stayed firmly, resolutely on the recently reacquired ‘Throwing Copper’ and ‘Vs.’ (a couple of all-time favourites) and ‘Hey Ma’ got pushed back a little, despite a promise not to dilly-dally. Then last week, during a brief quiet period in work, I pressed play on track one. And I smiled.
James for a while looked like being the also-ran of the Manchester music scene in the 80s and 90s. Formed in 1981, the band were part of a scene that exploded in the wake of Ian Curtis’ suicide. The Stone Roses, The Happy Mondays, New Order and later Oasis became household names; James almost didn’t until 1990’s ‘Sit Down’ became über popular in student and indie rock clubs, and one of the first chart hits for the band (a stint on a Heineken commercial didn’t hurt either). Despite a relative lack (and it really was just relative to their peers) of commercial success, they remained critical favourites; a lynchpin of Factory Records and a fixture at the legendary Haçienda club. Oh, and Nirvana (yes, that Nirvana) once supported them. This is not bad going for a band whose frontman would turn out to be a little off his rocker.
Tim Booth was the platonic ideal of a frontman at the time. Floppy haired, boyish and energetic he was initially hired for the band as a dancer before being promoted to singer. Booth always had ideas of the band being something bigger than the sum of their parts and as this ideology increasingly failed to take root, he started to explore side projects, most notably Booth and the Bad Angel, a musical experiment with composer Angelo Badalamenti. Acting stints later followed, notably in ‘Batman Begins’ (Booth also played Judas Iscariot in a version of the Passion set in contemporary Manchester for the BBC), but observers were remarking well before this on Booth’s and the band’s waning commitment to each other.
The band’s last previous studio album was seven years ago, and despite numerous interviews in which various members claimed that they were ‘all but’, there was never an official breakup. Rumours swirled about bad blood and creative differences, but when the band began (tentatively and sporadically at first) touring, and new material started popping up, there seemed to be some hope for reconciliation.
Present and immediately apparent on ‘Hey Ma’ are the jangly melodies and late 80s / Early 90s alterna-rock guitar sound – If you’ve heard James before it’s instantly recognizable as one of their albums; although rather than it being the sound of a band that hasn’t moved on, it’s a band that has taken everything they have learned over the years and applying it to what they do best. Lyrically, it’s clever, knowing and as naughty as ever (although if you want to know just how naughty they can get, track down the song ‘Laid’). Most of the songs are pared down, alliterative and it has to be said, more simple than before but there are still some gems ("I may as well try semaphore, As words no longer work" and about all of ‘Of Monsters and Heroes and Men’). I don’t know if you can ask more of a pop album than for it to stick in your head and make you wish you came up with the lines yourself.
2008 is when when I’ve been introduced to the sound of one of the few critical darlings I’ve felt has lived up to the hype (The National), three of my favourite bands have released new material (REM, Death Cab and The Hold Steady) and I’ve heard at least a dozen by bands and artists I’d never heard previously but now love dearly and staunchly advocate (The Pack AD and yes, Sam Phillips.) Even so ‘Hey Ma’ is now all but a certainty to stay in the top two or three albums I’ve heard this year.
As always, here’s the Track Listing:
Bubbles
Hey Ma
Waterfall
Oh My Heart
Boom Boom
Semaphore
Upside Down
White Boy
72
Of Monsters and Heroes and Men
I Want To Go Home
And Michael Goldberg is streaming ‘Bubbles’ here.
One of the most jarring experiences I’ve ever had while listening to music was the first time I heard ‘Pet Sounds’. I was a relatively old 20, and my previous experience with the Beach Boys was a vinyl ‘Greatest Hits’ in my dad’s collection, which was pretty much completely devoted to the ‘Fun, Fun, Fun’, ‘Surfin’ USA’ type stuff. But a guy in college, during an extended and meandering conversation told me I needed to hear ‘Pet Sounds’ and read ‘Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee’, so I went out and bought both.
Both completely and utterly blew my mind. ‘Wounded Knee’ is a story for another time and maybe another blog, but ‘Pet Sounds’ stunned me. I’d never, ever heard an album so different from what I expected. These were the Beach Boys as I had never heard them – I loved it, but it was unexpected to me (although the most surreal and unexpected moment I’ve had involving a Beach Boy was seeing Brian Wilson perform the Barenaked Ladies song ‘Brian Wilson’.) I don’t know – maybe I’m the only one who felt this.
Having been through that, I thought I knew what to expect from ‘Pacific Ocean Blue’, the recently reissued solo album by Beach Boy Dennis Wilson. Originally released in 1977, it was the first solo project by any of the band. Dennis had been attempting to record a solo album since 1970, and whereas the bulk of the album was recorded between autumn 1976 and spring 1977, several tracks (including album opener ‘River Song’ and the title track) have their origins in the earlier sessions, as well as in sessions for Beach Boys albums during the period. The problem with the latter works is that the songs don’t really sound like the Beach Boys.
But this isn’t a Beach Boys album. It’s absolutely of its time and has aged dramatically in parts. The piano on ‘River Song’ is ‘Tiny Dancer’ era Elton John; there’s disco-funk bass on songs like ‘Dreamer’ and Pacific Ocean Blue’; Eagles and Gram Parsons type desert rock on ‘Moonshine’, ‘Rainbows’ and Only With You’ and even a toe dipped in Bonzo Dog Doo Dah territory on ‘What’s Wrong’. It could easily be the soundtrack to an ‘Almost Famous’ sequel (Cameron Crowe, if you’re reading this, call me. I got ideas.) But at the same time as departing from a trademark Beach Boys sound, there’s also a distinct sense that this is a surf album – not in the same vein as the ‘Surfin’ Safari’ Beach Boys or even the nice guy surf folk of Jack Johnson. It’s a bleaker, solitary surf rock evoking a lone longboard on a dark beach.
Lyrically, the album floats between the quasi-religious ("I know a carpenter who had a dream / Killed the man but you couldn't kill the dream") and the out-and-out hippie-ish (Earth opens up its arms for me / When you get the feelin'/ The feelin' everything's all right alright / And I want you to know / I love you I love you so") but for the most part it’s simple and straightforward songwriting, and whereas a few tracks are credited to Dennis Wilson alone, much of it was written with producer Greg Jakobson; as well as with Beach Boys Carl Wilson and Mike Love and then-wife Karen Lamm, among others. Dennis’ voice is the key to the songs; rougher and scratchier than it had been on work with the Beach Boys, but far more suited to the introspective, mature sound that ‘Pacific Ocean Blue’ is going for.
This being a 30th anniversary reissue of ‘Pacific Ocean Blue’, it includes a disc of songs intended for ‘Bambu’, the never-released follow-up album. I don’t know that it’s as accessible as ‘Pacific Ocean Blue’, for a lot of the songs the only thing you can really say is that they’re interesting. It’s a harder album to get your head around. The vocals aren’t always coherent and in many places there’s a heavier reliance on booming piano notes than there is on ‘Pacific Ocean Blue’. At the very end of the disc, though, there’s a surprisingly (or not surprisingly, depending on your point of view) good revision of ‘Pacific Ocean Blue’ track ‘Holy Man’ featuring vocals by Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins (the original track is instrumental.) Hawkins voice and lyrics are a distinct and enjoyable finish to a flawed but still classic album. But bear in mind, ‘Pacific Ocean Blue’ is remembered as a lost classic – ‘Bambu’ is not.
Track Listing:
As always, here’s the track listing for the two disc set. For your hard earned cash you also get liner notes written by Beach Boys scholars such as David Leaf, Jon Stebbins, Ben Edmonds and David Beard, photographs by Wilson's close friend, Jan & Dean's Dean Torrence. There’s also an option to purchase a multi-LP, 180 gram blue vinyl version, available on the Sundazed label.
Disc One - Pacific Ocean Blue
1. "River Song"
2. "What's Wrong"
3. "Moonshine"
4. "Friday Night"
5. "Dreamer"
6. "Thoughts of You"
7. "Time"
8. "You and I"
9. "Pacific Ocean Blue"
10. "Farewell My Friend"
11. "Rainbows"
12. "End of The Show"
13. "Tug Of Love"
14. "Only With You"
15. "Holy Man" [instrumental]
16. "Mexico"
Disc Two: Bambu (The Caribou Sessions)
1. "Under The Moonlight"
2. "It's Not Too Late"
3. "School Girl"
4. "Love Remember Me"
5. "Love Surrounds Me"
6. "Wild Situation"
7. "Common"
8. "Are You Real"
9. "He's A Bum"
10. "Cocktails"
11. "I Love You"
12. "Constant Companion"
13. "Time For Bed"
14. "Album Tag Song"
15. "All Alone"
16. "Piano Variation on Thoughts Of You"
17. "Holy Man (Taylor Hawkins Version)"
Comments
I've always had a hard time with this album and the re-issue has proved no different. But your review has made me decide to go and give it another go. It is a sad excursion though - he sounds really troubled and I doubt his mental state was helped by the drink and drugs intake. That state makes 'Bambu' really hard to listen to.
Jonh, I agree - 'Bambu' is really hard to listen to and both albums have that sad quality that comes from knowing now what he was going through and what happened in the years afterwards.
Nice review -- I had this on vinyl, fournd the early 90s CD in a bargain bin, and bought this new re-release too. There is a lot to like about Pacific Ocean Blue.
For fans of the Red Dot, I posted the title track here.
‘Conor Oberst’ is not, as some would have you believe (I’m looking at you, Metro newspaper) the debut solo album from, well, Conor Oberst. It’s the fourth one, and that’s not even counting the work he’s done with Bright Eyes, Commander Venus, Desaparacidos and Park Avenue (of which I count a combined fourteen albums, but feel free to correct me in the comments). It seems, in fact, that the number one thing that ‘Conor Oberst’ wants you to know about Conor Oberst (see the difference?) is that he’s prolific. Conor Oberst has been around the block, and knows what’s going on. Or does he?
‘Conor Oberst’ was recorded over January and February 2008 in Tepozltán, Mexico by Conor Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band (which was initially reported to include Oberst’s old friend M. Ward). At first listen, it’s almost a straight up sequel to last year’s Bright Eyes album, ‘Cassadaga’ – though in this case rather than a straightforward embrace of the spiritualism and mysticism embodied by ‘Cassadaga’s eponymous community, Oberst is torn. The songs are speckled with Springsteenian travel imagery of old muscle cars in small seaside towns ("Hey, hey, hey mother interstate/Can you deliver me from evil?" on opener ‘Cape Canaveral; "smell the leather of your new car/ drive through the desert after night fall" on ‘Sausalito’ and "Now they drive the cars up and down the beach/It's ridiculous and everybody knows/Hear the Mustangs rev at the four way stop/You get ghosted when the light says go" on ‘Get Well Cards’) are sung with warring affection and bitterness in Oberst’s voice.
Fittingly, for a solo album, ‘Conor Oberst’ is more personal than previous Bright Eyes albums. There’s less of the biting social commentary or political motivations that Bright Eyes became known for in the wake of ‘I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning’ – although during the recording, Oberst played shows in support of Barack Obama – and the album becomes, like ‘Cassadaga’, more about individual journeys than popular ones. He doesn’t want to save your soul, just his own.
In some cases, like with the Bruce-style lyrics above, the journeys are literal. ‘Moab’ proclaims that "there’s nothing that the road cannot heal"; ‘Eagle on a Pole’, ‘Sausalito’ and ‘Valle Místico’ seem to imply that Conor and Co. went to Mexico to get away from it all be healed – like it was as much a pilgrimage as a recording excursion. (The latter song, by the way, is 49 seconds of insects and what sounds like a shepherd’s horn.)
The distinctive adolescent crack of Oberst’s voice that once again make this album (like with Bright Eyes before this) stand out from the rest of the folky, alt-country crowd. "Stop reading the weather charts/Stop counting the playing cards/There's no system, there's no guarantee/ That the love you feel and carry inside can be passed" he tells (or is told by?) a terminally ill child on ‘Danny Callahan’, and he genuinely sounds like he’s going to cry. This isn’t always a good thing – Oberst’s voice, for it’s emotive weight and distinctive breaks can come across as petulant and whiny after a while. But get past that and it’s where the album shines – it’s not about seeing the big picture or saving the world – it’s just a guy, who wants to redeem himself and doesn’t know how.
*
Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band will be playing a bunch of festivals over the next three months, including Reading and Leeds in England, Electric Picnic here in Ireland, Connect in Scotland, Austin City Limits in the US and Great Escape in Sydney Australia. You can stream ‘Danny Callahan’ by going to Michael Goldberg’s MOG page, here.
As always, here's the track listing:
1. "Cape Canaveral"
2. "Sausalito"
3. "Get-Well-Cards"
4. "Lenders in the Temple"
5. "Danny Callahan"
6. "I Don’t Want to Die (In the Hospital)"
7. "Eagle on a Pole"
8. "NYC - Gone, Gone"
9. "Moab"
10. "Valle Místico (Ruben’s Song)"
11. "Souled Out!!!"
12. "Milk Thistle"
Comments
great review! i'm actually heading out today to buy the album, although I've heard most of the tracks. i agree that it seems like a sequel to cassadaga, but maybe it's wrong to compare it to his Bright Eyes material.
he's playing here in Belfast on the 30th of August, and I have two tickets right beside me :D can't wait, it's been one of my life goals to see this man perform.
Thanks for the comment - actually it was a boneheaded move on my part not to mention the Belfast show. I only remembered it this morning when I logged into Facebook and saw it on my iLike 'Shows I Want To Go To'. And I was in Belfast yesterday, too (assuming Ikea counts as Belfast.)
are you going to the show then? for a while i was thinking electric picnic was my only option to see him, the last thing i expected was a Belfast date.
and yeah, the Ikea is a few minutes from my house, it's in the so-called 'greater Belfast' area lol.
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Interesting. I love much of what has come out of Manchester (the Stone Roses foremost, of course) but I've always done precisely that: written James off as also-rans. The only thing about them that stuck was "Laid" - as clever, funny, and naughty as you said, but tragically overplayed. Perhaps this will change my mind. Thanks for posting.