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THEEVKYBODYBBJJS
Nothing Is Okay
Ramseur
Despite Ihe rainbowy cover ol
the new record. The Everybodyfields
are neither twee nor happy, being
instead miners ot the trad-Americana
vein similar to their compatriots and
occasional tour buddies the Avett
Bros. Where the Avetts lift one up
with their harmonies and banjo, the
Everybodyfields are determined to get
you good and depressed. If you just
broke up with your loved one. Ihis
would be a pretty good record to spin
while you pour Ihe tequila.
Tennessee's Sam Quinn and Jill
Andrews mostly alternate vocal duties
(he is stretched-out and taffy-like, more
obviously mournful, androgynous;
she is pure and Kim Carnes-ish at the
same time, with a stronger voice), but
do best when they mingle, like on the
opening song, "Aeroplane.' a dark
tale of disastrous dreams. It's all quite
well done, but the occasional ray of
sunshine would be nice. Depression
melts distinctions away to prolong
itself, and these miserable songs run
together a bit. even if one really tries
to separate them from each other.
It's a mood more than anything else,
and while it's an extremely effectively
rendered mood, it doesn't allow a lot
ot breathing space. Nicely recorded,
smart, with a great range of countritied
instrumentation, but ultimately Nothing
Is Okay is a little somnolent.
Hillary Brown
The Everybodyfields are playing
at the Melting Point on Thursday.
Sept. 13.
<i? cc»n~r
VMTN 3t»» Dii‘» T l*
VIC CHESNUTT
North Star Deserter
Constellation
Vic Cnesnutt packs more vocal
eccentricity into one syllable than
freak-folk warblers like Devendra
Banhart can into entire albums, and
he's penned some ol the richest,
most literary pop lyrics ol the last two
decades But he's always been aware
that one auteur does not a fantastic
album make, so he's often lapped top-
notch musicians to help him flesh out
his songs. Through the course ot his
career, he's called on talents as diverse
as chamber-pop collective Lambchop
and Brian Wilson-collaborator Van
Dyke Parks, not to mention an all-star
cast ol Athens-based players.
For North Star Deserter. Chesnutt
partnered with a diverse crew whose
aesthetic seems (at first) distant
Irom his own. Members ot scads
of incestuous, Montreal-based
instrumental rock outfits like Godspeed
You! Black Emperor. Hangedup.
and Thee Silver MI. Zion Memorial
Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band lend
their talents, as does Fugazi's Guy
Picciotto. These accompanists
add sawing strings, ambient field
recordings, tormented electric guitars
and, ultimately, lots and lots of
volume; for once. Chesnutt's songs
are as cinematic as they are poetic In
Everything I Say'—one ol the many
tracks that exceed five minutes in
length—the wall-ot-sound works to
dazzling effect; acoustic mumblings
burst into scathing air-raid siren wails,
and then anthemic guitar licks fire off
like anti-aircraft bottle rockets
More often, the atmosphere isn't
apocalyptic, but eerie. “Over" and
"Warm’ creak and tiptoe along, chilling
as a recently deceased grandmother's
empty parlor. "Splendid" is the
kind of hazy, echoing lullaby you'll
find throughout Low's and Galaxie
500's repertoires; Chesnutt and his
bandmates appropriate the style with
verve and dignity.
So yes, tremendous songs. And
I haven't even mentioned the lyrics,
and I won't. II you know Chesnutt's
word-craft, you know that a handful ol
paragraphs can't do it justice. I'll leave
you with an absolulely unqualified
endorsement of North Star Deserter.
and I'll leave the business of figuring
out what these wonderfully wrought
songs mean up to you.
Phillip Buchan
Vic Chesnutt is playing at the 40
Watt Club on Thursday. Oct. 18.
THE BLACK UPS
Good Bad Not Evil
Vice
In February. I reviewed the Black
Lips' live album Los Valientes del
Mundo Nuevo. Back then I said that the
Atlanta quartet was finally starting to
become its own relerence point, rather
than requiring mention of the usual list
o* forebears whose spirits it has always
been so adept at channeling That live
documenl Irom Tijuana remains the
perfect way lor Vice Records to have
introduced the band to the rest ol the
country Known lor their live shows. Ihe
Lips' raw energy spilled oil the disc
Good Bad Not Evil is Ihe documenl
on which the band's future hangs, and
it's a tine statement Thirteen short
chunks of what the Lips do best, fusing
psychedelic pop straight Irom the
garage with the boozy blues-proto
punk ot the Velvet Underground Most
immediate is the production quality,
which is typically shoddy with a band
reaching toward this sound and era.
The rhythm guitar is a blur throughout
most of the album, and the rest ol
the instruments' tinny sound doesn't
help overcome that. But it all works;
sloppy abandon, drunken revelry and
reckless attitude make up tor any true
shortcomings.
It all comes logether most perfectly
on Good Bad Not Evils sparsest song.
Veni Vidi Vici” is a slight, trebly
wonder that doesn't even aspire to a
garage's ambience but is undeniably
catchy. Even more addictive is ' Bad
Kids." a stomping shout-along. The
Black Lips seem to have learned, even
as they've accrued years and chops
under their belts, that the simplicity
ot their formula shouldn't be messed
with. And Good Bad Not Evil succeeds
strictly because of this. The line
between good mess and mess mess
is thin indeed, and not even the flatly
stupid Ween-C&VV of "How Do You Tell
a Child That Someone Has Died" can
knock this band oft its tightrope.
Michael Wehunt
The Black Lips are playing ot the
40 Watt Club on Wednesday. Sept. 12.
MACHINE GO BOOM
Music For Parents
Collectible Escalators
Sloppy pop is so cool. There
are the classics of rigid, formalist
pop—the Beach Boys, the Big
Stars—and that's all well and good
Sometimes, though, it's nice to hear
sell-imposed amateurism for the sake
ol authenticity the leeling that rock is
populist, not just to. the elite, talent-
borne. Machine Go Boom falls into the
current indie-pop Zeitgeist, but has Ihe
same kind of lo-fi diffidence of a Times
New Viking or Sebadoh, instead ol the
overkill instrumentation and multi-part
harmonies of New Pornographers or
Arcade Fire.
Cleveland's Machine Go Boom's
new one, Music For Parents, is plenty
sloppy, and a grand collection of slow
tracks, fast tracks, sad tracks and
happy tracks The slower numbers
tend to drag (“Niagara Falls' lumbers
for lour-and-a-hali sluggish minutes),
but the up-tempo songs—the majority
here—are punk-and-pugilistic blasts
of absurd, knock-out lyrics and three
(or tour, maximum) chords
Machine Go Boom also uses
synthesizers to great effect The riffs
are never complicated, and always
hummable 'MIA" is stunning, the
synth and tribal percussion backing
a great vocal melody. Closer “Lazy
Weekend" so accurately captures that
oh-well contentment ol having done
nothing with the weekend, because it
will be back in live days, and you can
just try again then A little publicity,
more touring and possibly a stroke
ol luck will help Machine Go Boom
bring its fun-pop statement to dejected,
baroque-gorged listeners—a hopeful
sentiment, because Music For Parents
is a constantly thrilling statement.
Scott Reid
Machine Go Boom is playing at the
40 Watt Club on Tuesday. Sept 18
30 FUGPOLE.COM • SEPTEMBER 12, 2007
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