(Barsuk)
The songwriting of speaks only slightly louder than its backing music. John Vanderslice's fourth album brings a hodge-podge collection of genres together that works on themes and stories rather than any particular strength of musicianship. While the album has its share of impressive instrumental output, the words resound with greater impact.
is an album about lost legacies. Vanderslice never veers very far from a looming memory or a generation at his heels. From some of the songs, it would seem like Vanderslice is some version of a Kennedy living in a trailer house.
In an album of surprisingly remarkable songs, \They Won't Let Me Run"" sticks in the mind the longest. As a tale of young rebellion that dashes family expectations, it takes a reverse look at the tale of the prodigal son. The story functions because it is full of holes, inviting a few embellishments between the verses instead of laying everything out.
""My Family Tree"" is a eulogy Vanderslice gives to the branches of his father, sister and mother. That final loss becomes something he can never get over as another track, ""When it Hits My Blood,"" makes the eulogy angrier and more forlorn. The mother in the two tracks seems far more pitiful than maternal.
But does not allow itself to devolve into an embarrassingly awkward family gathering. Away from the legacies, there is a sense of loneliness that Vanderslice captures in finely-tuned images. He envisions the bluebird of happiness in ""Up Above the Sea,"" letting it become just another bird. The figure that matters is the bird's observer, the narrator of the song. He spends hours staring back at the bird rather than lamenting his own emotional situation.
John Vanderslice is perfectly capable of making it through song after song with a firm grip on subtlety. By the time the album comes to its final track, ""June July,"" the lyrics suggest more than just their words. Lines like ""I saw lightning flicker in the clouds / One and two thousand, better turn around"" give a sense of place, but the cumulative effort of turns that place into a situation.
While its words sustain the album, it is full of astounding tracks that stumble when the nuances of his language stub their toes on occasional examples of ineloquence. The problem would not stand out as much if Vanderslice's notable songs were not so well written. ""They Won't Let Me Run"" would be classic if it were not for one obscene moment. The album's first track, ""Pale Horse,"" also has a single forgettable instance of ""corpses newly risen.""
Besides these few instances, comes off as a polished work, fluid and superbly crafted. Rather than pushing away legacies and loneliness, Vanderslice embraces them and the album is excellent because of it. Behind this , there are plenty of impressive treasures.
