| A Love Letter to Braver Than We Are | |
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Posted by: |
Barclay 03:16 pm UTC 06/28/16 |
| In reply to: | I Still Got It & So do THEY!!!!! - Jsteinfan 01:58 pm UTC 06/25/16 |
| Tonight I heard the most subversive, breath-taking rock ’n’ roll memento mori ever committed to tape (or MacBook, or whatever). Track by track, blow by unexpurgated blow, here are my reflections on my first listen to Braver Than We Fuckin’ Are… Before I start, however, the following is basically a stream-of-consciousness love letter to the record upon first hearing. It’s gonna be way over the top, but that’s the point: it’s raw as fuck. Firstly, ‘Who Needs The Young’ is so glorious in a ‘fuck what you were expecting’ kind of way, with a modular opening that reminds me of ‘Heroes and Villains’ from an acid-washed Brian Wilson (also has an Alice Cooper, Welcome To My Nightmare vibe, but is way better than that). The background vocals are really well arranged, too. The whole song seems contemporarily political as fuck, a theme that pervades the record, especially on ‘GodZ’. “Buh-buh-buh-bum! Bum! Bum! La-la-la!” It’s clear on first hearing, however, that the cynosure of the album is ‘Going All the Way is Just the Start’. I almost burst into tears during the first chorus when Karla comes in, it’s that evocative. The guitars and production are dope, too. There are secrets I never can tell There are shadows of darkness in Heaven There are so many suburbs of Hell And their hours are 24/7. And when the girls take the verse and Meat comes in on the chorus, it’s really fuckin’ powerful. When they all sing together, the pretty vocals are fuckin’ damaged, too. I’ve heard so many great harmonies – The Everlys; The Beach Boys; Rory, Todd and Eric; as well as Helm, Danko and Manuel, among others – but Meat, Karla and Ellen on this track do something so unique in their blend – I’ve never come across anything quite like it before. Jim’s new lyrics blew me away – heartbreakingly cool: You see me smile And you swear that I could walk on air You seem me dancing The moonlight glancing at my hair. Ellen really digs weird phrasing and playing with the melody (“You see me dancing…”) – she’s a pro, it’s obvious. The above is one of the highlights of the record – she feels it so much – I mean, she really feels it, truly. Some of the harmonies when the song is in full flow are so urgent and kind of unsettling. ‘Speaking in Tongues’ is a thousand times better than I could have ever imagined from hearing that 2005 bootleg, complete with dick joke cackling (which I love). The main reason it’s better is Jim’s epitath-worthy lyrics: There are things we learn by knowledge There are things we learn by heart There are things at the end of life There are things we learn at the start There are things we learn by science There are things we learn by art There are things we learn from the fires of love An erection of the heart. I had to type the whole thing out because it’s so fuckin’ stunning!! I guess it owes a debt to ‘Confessions of a Vampire’ (“There are those who believe in science…”), but this is the definitive variation on that particular theme. The BVs on the first chorus couldn’t be more beautiful. I didn’t even miss Rory and Todd all that much (well, not too much). I miss Roy Bittan, though (‘Racing in the Street’ may be the greatest thing I’ve ever heard from a piano). ‘Loving You’s a Dirty Job but Somebody’s Gotta Do It’ didn’t excite me on paper, but sounds brilliant here, no doubt. I’m surprised at the production: it’s modern, punchy, dense (in a sparse, rock ’n’ roll kind of way), while still retaining the heroic, gothic, fervent, straight-for-the-jugular Wall of Sound approach. Would you follow your dreams’ desire? Would you follow your secret dreams and forbidden fire? ‘Souvenirs’ has some really cool vocal phrasing: a certain amount of care in the arrangement is a big deal to me – I want to know that you thought deeply about this, rather than just covering some musical number from 1973. I don’t blame you now ’Cause I know you really tried. The vocals in the aforementioned verse totally threw me. Congratulations, Meat, it’s great! ‘Only When I Feel’ is almost too real (read: painful, in a good way). It’s also frightening, I think. The way Meat sings “At least…” for the second time is imperfect, but perfect, if you see what I mean. The BVs at the end come out of nowhere – I guess the vocal arranger/performer really likes SMiLE. There are signs everywhere They’re below and above. ‘More’ is a great song, but another I wasn’t too excited about on paper, although I really like this version. I miss that guitar riff when it hits in the chorus, though. This makes up for it, however: Broken hearts are the Devil’s playground I’m not done yet Counterfeit lovers are a virtual orgy Anything I can get. ‘Skull of your Country’ doesn’t seem to have been leaked in full, but the sample sounds promising. “Turn around…” ‘GodZ’ sounds like such a political statement to me (“Only if someone with power will help him…”), and Meat seems to realise this in his delivery – so dark and incensed. It has a lot of resonance in the UK right now, with the whole Brexit thing, for which 75% of young people apparently voted against leaving the EU. A warning to America, perhaps: “Give all the children a world they desire…” ‘Train of Love’ comes out of the blue, thematically (and into the black), but I dig it – reminds of another closer: ‘Truckin’’ by The Grateful Dead. “Don’t even know where I am…” Jim has an obsession with youth and rebellion, that much is obvious, but this record feels more like a mature statement to me, with an eye to the future and those who’ll live in it, which is political in itself. I wonder if Jim chose the album title, and if it’s a reference to future generations? The whole record is a gloaming masterpiece, in my opinion. I’ve listened to Bat since I was in still in the womb (Thank you, Mum), and in 29 years, I never thought I’d hear a better album. I missed out on that record in 1977, but this feels so immediate, so cataclysmic upon its impact. It feels like it’s for me, relatively. All in all, this is a really dark album, but it’s also fuckin’ joyous in parts (Karla sounds like she’s singing with a smile on her face), despite the themes. I mean, the coda to ‘Going All the Way’ is an incantation to everything that’s good, for me: We’re crusaders of the heart And going all the way is just the start. I was born in 1986. This is my Bat. Dr Barclay Rafferty 27th June 2016 | |
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