Although list-averse (or else simply VH1-phobic), I would normally constrict a best records of the year list around now. Poverty and nagging unemployment, alas, put a real crimp in my record shopping for 2005. There are still at least a dozen releases that I must hear before I could properly judge. However, I am catching up. So here are some notes on 2005 releases that are new to me.
“Honeycomb” by Frank Black
In between victory laps with the Pixies, Black headed to Nashville to record a classicist country record. The experience and competence of the session players, plus Frank Black’s smokey baritone make “Honeycomb” work not just as a country record but as a reminder of just how high the bar should be set for a new Pixies record. The unfamiliar country soundscape allows Black’s lyrics (like “mommy killed a puppy and she thought it was asleep / she put it on the table but it was still meat / she forgot the sugar again”) to sound vital again, at once strange and familiar. Could a new Pixies disc do the same?
“Blinking Lights and Other Revelations” by eels
This album is a stunner, even if it does seem a blatant attempt to revisit (and best) previous triumphs. This is another meditation on death and survival, this time totaling two discs with a running instrumental theme. After 30 or 40 listens, it’s still hard to tell if all those “blinking lights” interludes are extra padding or an essential part of the whole. But there are enough solid songs here to be worth the price of admission, including theme songs for your next exisential crisis (“Old Shit / New Shit” – “I’m tired of the old shit / let the new shit begin”), lovesick mixtape (“Lick Your Boots” – “people spend their days / trying to find new ways / to put you down all over town / but they’re not fit / to lick your boots”) or last will and testament (“Things the Grandchildren Should Know” – “i knew true love and i knew passion / and the difference between the two / and i had some regrets / but if i had to do it all again / well, it’s something i’d like to do”).
Senior Smoke, by Electric Six
More of a joke record than “Fire,” this disc only really scores with “Vibrator” and the cover of “Radio Gaga” (which loses something without Dick Valentine’s video impersonation of Freddy Mercury).
The Modern Sounds of, the Knitters
Twenty years later, X’s delightful musical chairs side project (substitute Dave Alvin for Billy Zoom, put Johnny Ray Bartel on upright bass and slide John Doe over to slide and acoustic guitar) release a follow-up to their beloved “Poor Little Critter on the Road.” Too much of this material is warmed over country hash. “In This House That I Call Home” (haunting and superior) and “Burning House of Love” (better “Unclogged”) are X covering X. “(Why Don’t We Even) Try Anymore” was better on Bloodshot’s Knitters cover record. “Wreckin Ball” is a disappointing retread, as is “Skin Deep Town.” The few new tunes suggest what a wasted opportunity this was. I missed the Knitters when they came to town this summer. I’m sure they were awesome. I did catch X a few weeks back, and they certainly were. I have no desire to see these old punks become an oldies act. I breathlessly await new material that is truly new.
Road to Rouen, by Supergrass
It’s a brief record, and a bit of a sleeper following their recent best-of. Supergrass continues to grow, now that they are 11.
Living Things, by Matthew Sweet
Firmly ensconced in his cult-hero status, Matthew Sweet seems to emulate a new hero for each new record. After dabbling in Spector-esque Wall of Sound production on 1999’s “In Reverse,” Sweet now teams with Brian Wilson collaborator Van Dyke Parks for Beach Boys-y harmony. I miss Robert Quine more than ever.
So Jealous, by Tegan and Sara
When I first saw this duo open for the Old 97’s about five years ago, they were all kinds of Indigo (Girls). Thankfully, they’re still adorable, but now they rock. This could be the power pop record of the year (I won’t know until I get that new New Pornographers). This is a great, hooky record with solid writing. “i feel like / you wouldn’t like me / if you met me” is the kind of line that could make anyone so jealous.
Freedom and Weep, by the Waco Brothers
The good folks at Bloodshot records were kind enough to send me a promo of this disc during the summer. I sat on it, hoping to find a home for a proper review. I failed, but I’m grateful for the presence of Marc Durante’s loser sing-a-long “Join the Club” in my dying Toyota during my most desperate days. Elsewhere, Deano Schlobowske dominates the disc, with his ragged “Nothing At All” opening, and his post-election blues, “Rest of the World,” penultimating (“champaign’s still on ice – might as well down it tonight – it’s won’t last four more years / nor will your rights”).
A Ghost if Born, by Wilco
Jeff Tweedy quickly and definitely proved his need for strong collaborators by releasing this prog rock hogwash immediately after canning Jay Bennett. How long will it be until Tweedy and Jay Farrar realize that they need each other?