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| Track List: 1. The Best Ever Death Metal Band In Denton 2. Fall Of The Star High School Running Back 3. Color In Your Cheeks 4. Jenny 5. Fault Lines 6. Balance 7. Pink And Blue 8. Riches And Wonders 9. The Mess Inside 10. Jeff Davis County Blues 11. Distant Stations 12. Blues In Dallas 13. Source Decay 14. Absolute Lithops Effect 15. Hardpan Song 16. Answering the Phone 17. Indonesia 18. Midland 19. Jenny (alt. take) 20. Tape Travel is Lonely 21. Waco Running time: 61 minutes Released: 2002 |
OK, we have an unexpected repeat now. I somehow missed that a remastered version of this favourite was available, complete with a bunch of bonus tracks and new liner notes by Mr Darnielle. I kinda had to pick it up once I saw it existed. I toyed with the idea of just listening to the new stuff, but... nah. I don't think I'll be able to make comparisons with the prior release because I'd have to listen to each track twice back to back. Just previewing it whilst ripping it sounds clearer in places but that could be kidology.
This may have been available at the point when I bought All Hail West Texas for the first time; I don't really recall how long I have had, and loved, this material. Still, here I am, with something to listen to...
There is still a crackle at the opening of The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton, and Darnielle's voice sounds properly scratchy. Actually I catch myself thinking that the remaster may have more scratch and interference on it than the original issue. This feels rawer, fuzzier and harder to like, but I suspect a lot of that is rose tinting from the time since I last played the record. The fuzziness is unavoidable in a way that perhaps a flatter mastering tempered. What do I know? Nothing, that's what.
Colour In Your Cheeks is peppy, the riff is a little blurred by the recording but the punchy, separated blocks as it cycles through the keynotes are genius in terms of pacing and framing the track. On this track the vocal fares better - clearer for sure - and this carries over into Jenny, though the clarity here comes from proximity and volume, with the voice blocking out the general fuzz on the track. There is a really nice snap in the post-chorus guitar. Whilst the buzz on the line (as it were) is ever present, the vitality and essence of these songs is immense and immediate. I recently picked up the Goats' latest issue, Goths, and despite the more modern releases having more sophistication in terms of production the songs have but a little of the compel that I feel from these. Maybe that is the younger, angrier nature of things shining through and bringing energy, maybe it is that the creative well ran deeper, maybe I'm just so not a goth that an album of that name couldn't inspire... who knows.
Balance is a fucking awesome track. One of my all time faves. The guitar work guts me, the vocal punches the scar. It rips through me and leaves me happier for it.
Somehow that tune also seems to avoid the interference from the artefacts of recording, but I suspect that's my mind screening it out because of what the song does for me. In any case, I notice the buzz back hard on the follow up, which has a softer tone - what with dealing with new parenthood and all. At times it feels like the tape hum is being employed as a bassline, at others the frequency is subsumed by the lower thrum of Darnielle's guitar.
In truth I am not sure what the remastering adds (or removes) - no surprise there - but I am really looking forward to the new tracks. This is a first listen, albeit one where the first 66% is familiar. There is a nice clarity to the strumming on The Mess Inside, a rougher edge to the emotional, almost shouted vocal. The melody supports that emotion well, the lyrics demand it, and the track is powerful as a result.
Summer is gone; travel schedules have been messed up, it's raining heavily (or was until recently), and I've been feeling lonely of late. Making space for this listen is a good enforced stop and take stock. The songs on this disc are ones where paying some attention yields rewards, but they are also familiar friends by now. Walking the line between giving my ear, relaxing into the familiar structures, and actually commenting on things is a tricky one. I realise that I didn't really comment too much on things with the original listen - there is a bit more here already than on that post - but I don't necessarily feel a strong need to say much about these tunes. Yes, this album is a strong favourite, and one that I could evangelise about to someone I thought might appreciate it, but I have long since backed off from spreading the word into a soundless void, and on the off-chance any human being stumbles over this post then the only ones who read it will be familiar with the work anyway.
Ugh - that last sentence is my mind in a microcosm right now. Wrapped up in self admonishment and self pity. That's what I started the listening to push back against. Funny how bringing it up worked as a sort of focusing device, and not in a helpful way.
For what it's worth, I haven't really got any more fond of Blues in Dallas than I was originally.
The plus point of that observation is that we are almost onto the bonus tracks, the things I haven't heard yet. There is a little bit of trepidation there - I might be building them up too much, putting too much wait on their being contemporaries of the original set. They will be of interest, at least - even if they disappoint.
There is a lovely road trip image associated with Source Decay, partially from the lyrics, partially from memories of driving to it - even if that driving was on my regular commute. They are nice images, those memories - fields between villages, few cars on the road. They're probably not reflective of the actual journeys. I find myself drifting a little, then refocus my thoughts. I suspect that the remaster concentrated on cleaning up the guitar parts, because this is always pretty clear. The hums, thrums, and fuzzes from the recording are ever present, but they generally affect the voice more. In all - I don't find any significant differences in the fourteen original tracks.
There is some dead air before the bonuses begin - silence on the end of Absolute Lithops Effect. Then some oddities. Then Hardpan Song. First impressions are that it is sort of bland. Darnielle speaks his way through his lyrics as much as anything, and whilst there is clearly some urgency in the guitar work the riffs don't have the immediate pull that they might have. That, though, is remedied on Answering the Phone - which harks strongly back to The Mess Inside, but veers into darker sounds rather than raw emotional ones, with lyrics to match. The sound here is raw, much more so than the previous tracks, but that doesn't seem to be universal to the bonuses as the next song doesn't have that same feel.
This track is busier, faster guitar work - fitting more notes in, rather than genuinely maintaining a faster pace. Its a nicer song for it. The strumming has a depth and melody to it that is often lacking on this album, and provides a welcome change. These bonuses are short numbers on the whole, racing by before I can really coalesce any worthwhile thoughts. I'll settle for a nod that they do, generally, fit with the tone of the core. That is helped, I guess, by one of the new ones being a re-recording of Jenny with a few variations in guitar and different pacing in the vocal in a couple of spots, but it definitely applied before that tune hit.
It still applies to Tape Travel is Lonely, though only just. There are definitely common elements here, but this song feels different in vocal style and lyrical focus. Less personal somehow - meaning less about people more than anything else; the track also ends abruptly, a little oddly. Then I am on the final stretch.
Last track Waco ends abruptly too, and the room falls silent. Run out of tape, John? Overall I am glad I bought this, and whilst I could probably cut the original album at this point I don't feel inclined to as having both gives more chance for those songs to come up! I might make a gift of the original hardcopy though, try to find someone to induct into the world of The Mountain Goats.
Colour In Your Cheeks is peppy, the riff is a little blurred by the recording but the punchy, separated blocks as it cycles through the keynotes are genius in terms of pacing and framing the track. On this track the vocal fares better - clearer for sure - and this carries over into Jenny, though the clarity here comes from proximity and volume, with the voice blocking out the general fuzz on the track. There is a really nice snap in the post-chorus guitar. Whilst the buzz on the line (as it were) is ever present, the vitality and essence of these songs is immense and immediate. I recently picked up the Goats' latest issue, Goths, and despite the more modern releases having more sophistication in terms of production the songs have but a little of the compel that I feel from these. Maybe that is the younger, angrier nature of things shining through and bringing energy, maybe it is that the creative well ran deeper, maybe I'm just so not a goth that an album of that name couldn't inspire... who knows.
Balance is a fucking awesome track. One of my all time faves. The guitar work guts me, the vocal punches the scar. It rips through me and leaves me happier for it.
Somehow that tune also seems to avoid the interference from the artefacts of recording, but I suspect that's my mind screening it out because of what the song does for me. In any case, I notice the buzz back hard on the follow up, which has a softer tone - what with dealing with new parenthood and all. At times it feels like the tape hum is being employed as a bassline, at others the frequency is subsumed by the lower thrum of Darnielle's guitar.
In truth I am not sure what the remastering adds (or removes) - no surprise there - but I am really looking forward to the new tracks. This is a first listen, albeit one where the first 66% is familiar. There is a nice clarity to the strumming on The Mess Inside, a rougher edge to the emotional, almost shouted vocal. The melody supports that emotion well, the lyrics demand it, and the track is powerful as a result.
Summer is gone; travel schedules have been messed up, it's raining heavily (or was until recently), and I've been feeling lonely of late. Making space for this listen is a good enforced stop and take stock. The songs on this disc are ones where paying some attention yields rewards, but they are also familiar friends by now. Walking the line between giving my ear, relaxing into the familiar structures, and actually commenting on things is a tricky one. I realise that I didn't really comment too much on things with the original listen - there is a bit more here already than on that post - but I don't necessarily feel a strong need to say much about these tunes. Yes, this album is a strong favourite, and one that I could evangelise about to someone I thought might appreciate it, but I have long since backed off from spreading the word into a soundless void, and on the off-chance any human being stumbles over this post then the only ones who read it will be familiar with the work anyway.
Ugh - that last sentence is my mind in a microcosm right now. Wrapped up in self admonishment and self pity. That's what I started the listening to push back against. Funny how bringing it up worked as a sort of focusing device, and not in a helpful way.
For what it's worth, I haven't really got any more fond of Blues in Dallas than I was originally.
The plus point of that observation is that we are almost onto the bonus tracks, the things I haven't heard yet. There is a little bit of trepidation there - I might be building them up too much, putting too much wait on their being contemporaries of the original set. They will be of interest, at least - even if they disappoint.
There is a lovely road trip image associated with Source Decay, partially from the lyrics, partially from memories of driving to it - even if that driving was on my regular commute. They are nice images, those memories - fields between villages, few cars on the road. They're probably not reflective of the actual journeys. I find myself drifting a little, then refocus my thoughts. I suspect that the remaster concentrated on cleaning up the guitar parts, because this is always pretty clear. The hums, thrums, and fuzzes from the recording are ever present, but they generally affect the voice more. In all - I don't find any significant differences in the fourteen original tracks.
There is some dead air before the bonuses begin - silence on the end of Absolute Lithops Effect. Then some oddities. Then Hardpan Song. First impressions are that it is sort of bland. Darnielle speaks his way through his lyrics as much as anything, and whilst there is clearly some urgency in the guitar work the riffs don't have the immediate pull that they might have. That, though, is remedied on Answering the Phone - which harks strongly back to The Mess Inside, but veers into darker sounds rather than raw emotional ones, with lyrics to match. The sound here is raw, much more so than the previous tracks, but that doesn't seem to be universal to the bonuses as the next song doesn't have that same feel.
This track is busier, faster guitar work - fitting more notes in, rather than genuinely maintaining a faster pace. Its a nicer song for it. The strumming has a depth and melody to it that is often lacking on this album, and provides a welcome change. These bonuses are short numbers on the whole, racing by before I can really coalesce any worthwhile thoughts. I'll settle for a nod that they do, generally, fit with the tone of the core. That is helped, I guess, by one of the new ones being a re-recording of Jenny with a few variations in guitar and different pacing in the vocal in a couple of spots, but it definitely applied before that tune hit.
It still applies to Tape Travel is Lonely, though only just. There are definitely common elements here, but this song feels different in vocal style and lyrical focus. Less personal somehow - meaning less about people more than anything else; the track also ends abruptly, a little oddly. Then I am on the final stretch.
Last track Waco ends abruptly too, and the room falls silent. Run out of tape, John? Overall I am glad I bought this, and whilst I could probably cut the original album at this point I don't feel inclined to as having both gives more chance for those songs to come up! I might make a gift of the original hardcopy though, try to find someone to induct into the world of The Mountain Goats.
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