Deer Tick's reissue has a couple of absolute gems and new cover art cleverly suggesting that they seek a rewardingly unfashionable sound midway between The Flying Burrito Brothers and The Mountain Goats.
This repackaged release is way better than the original for the simple reason that the cover art (a desert scene: girls in bikinis with automatic weapons, sunglasses, boys with cigarettes) is a visual representation of the music's advocacy of excess and an outsider stance. This tongue-in-cheek rakish image is borne out by the attitude on some of the songs on the pathetically titled War Elephant. Chief amongst the jewels is "Art Isn't Real (City of Sin)", an utterly fabulous track which rolls along in the old country-rock style; a swinging piece of strident, maudlin, existentialism that would not have disgraced The Gilded Palace of Sin. The song has a neat juxtaposition of a breezy pace and dispassionate delivery of killer lines such as: "I'm just going through the motions and/ I need an old fashioned potion/There's gotta be some old recipe/ "Cos I gotta get drunk I gotta forget about some things." The choice of fiddle instead of guitar for the solo on this piece is also spot on.
"Dirty Dishes" is a surrealistic track with jangling sound and lyrics that depict selfish people trying (in their on way) to be understood and, eventually, to empathize with others. "Spend the Night" has an atmosphere of straight ahead lewdness (no pun intended) and "Diamond Rings 2007" could be a cover of Big Star's "I'm in Love with a Girl." It's as if The Shins decided to go country. Unfortunately, heavier songs which could provide contrast, such as "Not So Dense," have such a stodgy pace that they could almost be from another band. These parts of War Elephant bog the whole album down. Likewise, John McCauley's voice is great on the lighter propulsive tracks but when he strains for some grittiness or anger it is far less attractive.
Back with the rakish attitude: it's a plus that sections of the liner notes smack of deliberate bullshit. Similarly, while it could be worrying that the final track, "What Kind of Fool Am I," was written by Anthony Newley, that influence worked just fine for Bowie. All in all, despite the inconsistencies I hope we haven't heard the last of Deer Tick and that the next cover art will picture McCauley smoking a pipe while a bald minder holds back droves of adoring bikini-clan fans.
samples:
Read More
