.....and I'm workin' overtime.
Got the record "The Search" on my lunch break at Rasputins last Tues. along with a promo limited-edition bonus EP. Got a second bonus EP at Best Buy later that week and some other itunes exclusive outtakes.
Been listening non-stop ever since. About 30 songs in all. Man!
I was listening to the album after work while helping students with HW, when a student insightfully said, "This is L.A. music." So I asked what she meant and she replied, "Because this is the kind of music I would listen to if I were driving all the way to L.A." She "gets" it.
I've gotta be honest. It's not their most accessible. In fact, this is probably their worst. But the fact is that Jay Farrar's worst beats anybody's best by miles. So it's still incredible to me.
A lot of different instrumentation: sitar, tape loops, keyboards/synths, piano, organ, female bgvs.
Lyrically, there's more anti-war/ anti-corporate/environmentalist lyrics. Along with a lot of schitzofrenically juxtaposed lyrics like this one:
He sings in falsetto while playing a lone piano...
"She said, 'I still love you, but I don't know if I wanna spend the rest of my time with you- the rest of my life with you.'"
...then the band kicks in and he sings...
"High on adrenaline, it's new day!"
What a funny pairing of lines. Although I am someone who has personally received that first line myself and someone who has woken up to a new morning optimistically, I have never experienced the two coinciding. But it's genius because it leaves you wondering and imagining.
Note to my faithful readership: if you are a Son Volt novice, check out their first record, "TRACE" first. It's much more listener-friendly. Plus it's a classic and should be in everyones' home.
Man, I can't deliver a full review right now. I'm still processing the whole thing. But I am just fully enjoying myself. I love Jay Farrar the way that my students love Hillary Duff or (Lil') Bow Wow. And I'm totally in touch with that part of it and I'm loving it!
1 comment:
i love that song best right now, and as i've listened to it, i think the lyric totally goes together...the verses before the coolest part are kind of about how they're trapped in this relationship that isn't fun. but the idea of ending it is like "heresy" because they're both so used to it. then she says this to him, it's like an out and then even though he is probably experiencing the adrenaline due to waking up to a totally different life without her, it's exciting because it's good, better, right.
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