Mark Linkous’
follow up to the curiously named Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot is a more
difficult beast than its predecessor to get into. Again it’s a multilayered album, but the
layers are denser than before.
It’s a tricky
listen because the slower songs lull you into a relaxed state but then you are
jarred by a burst of noise on the following track each time. It opens with the fairly heavy Pig before
settling into a hazy, drifting mood with Painbirds and the gentle guitar
pickings of Saint Mary. The mood becomes
murkier with the brief instrumental drone of the title track before the
strident, upbeat rock song Sick of Goodbyes.
Sunshine is a
gorgeous melody which is dragged out a little over 5 minutes which should work
better but unfortunately it doesn’t quite succeed. Chaos of the Galaxy/Happy Man should be a
driving rock song but it the opening 2 minutes of the song is muffled, buried
under layers of static and studio trickery.
After a nice
cover of Daniel Johnston’s Hey Joe, Linkous darkens the mood with the gloomy,
almost Cure-like melody of Come On In. An
example of the fine musicianship on this album is Maria’s Little Elbows, which
has a gorgeous guitar led descending melody and a nice Velvet Underground
referencing lyric: (“she says I’ve really come to hate my body”).
But it’s
almost as if too much mellowness is hard for Mark Linkous to take. Pounding melodic rocker Cruel Sun obliterates
the mood, though the effect cleanses the palette nicely for the dreamy, drowsy
All Night Home.
Despite the
fact that the songs on this album are far less immediate than its predecessor,
they resonate for longer, making it arguably a more rewarding listen.
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