Review for www.nomoreworkhorse.com
Showing posts with label Smog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Smog. Show all posts
Monday, July 21, 2025
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Friday, July 26, 2024
Friday, October 14, 2022
Tuesday, December 7, 2021
Bill Callahan & Bonnie Prince Billy – Blind Date Party – Album Review
Review for www.nomoreworkhorse.com
Monday, September 30, 2019
Monday, February 3, 2014
Friday, September 27, 2013
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Album Review: Bill Callahan – Woke On A Whaleheart
Bill Callahan’s first album released under his name in 2007 is a curious affair. Callahan has been honing his songwriting craft gradually as Smog (and also (Smog)), culminating in the dark Americana of A River Ain’t Too Much To Love.
On this album however he experiments with a whole bunch of musicians, instrumentation, backing singers and Neil Hagerty on production. From The Rivers To The Ocean starts with a quiet piano part before morphing into something not too dissimilar from his last album as Smog with Bill’s tar-black vocal coating over a piano-led tune, joined by “blonde violins” (as per the sleeve notes).
A total change of tack for Footprints, a stomping freak-out with barmy backing vocals. It’s quite unlike anything else Callahan has done, as is the funky Diamond Dancer, a more successful attempt at a strutting guitar-dance track.
Sycamore is a more relaxed groove, an easy melody allowing plenty of space for Bill Callahan’s croon, while The Wheel with its slightly off guitar harks back to his Smog days. Honeymoon Child is, well, slinky is the word, a kind of bluesy, funky ballad.
Later, Night takes a pretty piano part in the fashion of early Smog and turns it into a soaring, reflective number. The album finishes with the bafflingly-titled A Man Needs A Woman Or A Man To Be A Man, a toe-tapping, finger-clicking early Johnny Cash style number.
The album has a cluttered, fussy feel, lurching from style to style. An idiosyncratic and intriguing diversion for Bill Callahan.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Concert Review: Bill Callahan – The Academy, Dublin, 5th May 2011
It transpired that this was the first night of Bill Callahan’s tour, conjuring up images of his band receiving a letter in the post from Callahan reading: “Touring Europe. See you at the airport. Bill.”
Sophia Knapp was the support, accompanying her guitar playing with programmed keyboards. Unfortunately it was mostly forgettable stuff, with shades of 80s power balladress (new word!) Pat Benatar here and there. There was an improvement on the aptly titled Nothing To Lose where she ditched the keyboards.
By now the venue was full to bursting, with stifling heat. Bill Callahan cut a stoic, messianic figure on stage, clad in a white suit and bathed in white light as he strummed Spanish guitar with occasional harmonica. Riding for the Feeling was an early highlight. It’s a downright lovely song but it was enhanced here by some wonderful electric guitar from Matt Kinsey.
The band, completed by tie-wearing drummer Neal Morgan sounded comfortingly old-fashioned, and rendered songs like Our Anniversary, Free’s and Jim Cain in subtle, stripped-down arrangements, Kinsey’s electric guitar substituting for strings. Universal Applicant gave Callahan a chance to do his flare impersonation while the song benefited from some lovely guitar flourishes on the coda creating a beautifully laid-back atmosphere, not spoilt by the Bez-from-Happy-Mondays impersonator beside us.
The music created by this threesome was really quite something, with Callahan also showcasing a fine singing voice. Some tracks such as Eid Ma Clack Shaw and My Friend were radically reimagined from their recorded versions and worked well. Bill Callahan found time to dig up Bathysphere from his back catalogue, which concluded his set.
If the feverish retail activity at his concession stand was anything to go by, he sent an adoring crowd home deliriously happy. Indeed I really didn't want it to end!
Friday, April 15, 2011
Friday, September 3, 2010
Album Review: (Smog) – Supper
After the somewhat disappointing Rain On Lens album, Bill Callahan went back to basics and ‘headed back to the country’ for this 2003 album, which has a definite country feel.
The steel guitar is prominent from the first track, Feather By Feather, which would have fit in well on Red Apple Falls. The track has a relaxed, unhurried feel about it, reinforced by Sarabeth Tucek’s backing vocals. The pace picks up with Butterflies Drowned In Wine, which takes the VU inspired chug of the previous album and marries it to the aforementioned steel guitar, by way of numerous changes in tempo and a vocal that sounds more like Lou Reed than ever. It should sound like a complete mess but weirdly, it doesn’t. Maybe it’s Tucek’s backing vocals? It beats the hell out of most of the Rain On Lens material, that’s for sure. If it appeared on a Lou Reed album it would probably be the best track.
Morality is another uptempo track, though less successful. Things improve with the understated, wary Ambition, which floats in on some eerie organ, accompanied by nicely picked guitars. Vessel in Vain is a more stripped down, rootsy track. It’s a relatively simple melody which climaxes in an almost sing-along chorus, as he sings “my ideals have got me on the run”.
Later, Truth Serum is another fairly unrushed, lazy melody which has the feel of a vintage Van Morrison track about it. The playing on this is wonderfully light, though it has to be said that this and most of the other tracks take a few listens to grab you. At its core this one is an unashamed romantic duet, and though it lasts seven and a half minutes, you don’t want it to end. Which actually makes it better than some of the overlong tracks on Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks.
Our Anniversary is another fine lengthy melody, a little sparser but again the playing here has a great light touch to it. Driving on the other hand is a bit of a mess. I think he was aiming for a sort of repetitive mantra effect but it disrupts the flow of the album a bit. Final track Guiding Light is better, it’s a darker and shorter track, reminiscent of some of the stripped down closing tracks on older Smog albums. He sings about the sun sinking, and “staying up long into the night” over ringing electric guitar and minimal percussion. Nice to end on a down note. (!)
This is a fine album though it’s a real grower, requiring multiple listens, though if you have patience it will be rewarded.
The steel guitar is prominent from the first track, Feather By Feather, which would have fit in well on Red Apple Falls. The track has a relaxed, unhurried feel about it, reinforced by Sarabeth Tucek’s backing vocals. The pace picks up with Butterflies Drowned In Wine, which takes the VU inspired chug of the previous album and marries it to the aforementioned steel guitar, by way of numerous changes in tempo and a vocal that sounds more like Lou Reed than ever. It should sound like a complete mess but weirdly, it doesn’t. Maybe it’s Tucek’s backing vocals? It beats the hell out of most of the Rain On Lens material, that’s for sure. If it appeared on a Lou Reed album it would probably be the best track.
Morality is another uptempo track, though less successful. Things improve with the understated, wary Ambition, which floats in on some eerie organ, accompanied by nicely picked guitars. Vessel in Vain is a more stripped down, rootsy track. It’s a relatively simple melody which climaxes in an almost sing-along chorus, as he sings “my ideals have got me on the run”.
Later, Truth Serum is another fairly unrushed, lazy melody which has the feel of a vintage Van Morrison track about it. The playing on this is wonderfully light, though it has to be said that this and most of the other tracks take a few listens to grab you. At its core this one is an unashamed romantic duet, and though it lasts seven and a half minutes, you don’t want it to end. Which actually makes it better than some of the overlong tracks on Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks.
Our Anniversary is another fine lengthy melody, a little sparser but again the playing here has a great light touch to it. Driving on the other hand is a bit of a mess. I think he was aiming for a sort of repetitive mantra effect but it disrupts the flow of the album a bit. Final track Guiding Light is better, it’s a darker and shorter track, reminiscent of some of the stripped down closing tracks on older Smog albums. He sings about the sun sinking, and “staying up long into the night” over ringing electric guitar and minimal percussion. Nice to end on a down note. (!)
This is a fine album though it’s a real grower, requiring multiple listens, though if you have patience it will be rewarded.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Album Review: (smog) – Accumulation: None
This is not quite a new album for (smog) but a collection of old and hard-to-find tracks. There’s actually some pretty unlistenable noise experiments here (Astronaut, Floating, Hole In The Heart), with very little redeeming features. Thankfully there are some actual proper songs here.
A Hit uses heavy distorted guitar to deliver a kind of slacker anthem (“it’s not gonna be a hit so why even bother with it”). It’s really not as good as it sounds (which isn’t that good really) and not one which I’ll listen over and over to. The rest of the tracks are of varying quality. Spanish Moss is a fairly slight, acoustic strum, while Chosen One is a fuller sounding track, built around a piano. It’s interesting to hear how weedily Bill Callahan sings on these older tracks, light years away from his more recent material.
For those unfamiliar with Smog, listening closely to some of these tracks can make them seem disturbing. Real Live Dress features a great bit of guitar picking, sounding foreboding, like something off Doctor Came at Dawn. Musically it’s great, though the subject matter is creepy in the extreme. Came Blue has a going nowhere melody and creepy, drab atmosphere, but Little Girl Shoes is creepier still, as Bill Callahan sings deadpan about being “attracted to your little girl shoes” over some barely there, sparse music. Em, okay?
Later on there is an acoustic version of Cold Blooded Old Times (off Knock Knock) which is just bill and his rickety guitar, and it doesn’t really work, it’s like the song has had the life sucked out of it, they type of version that “turns your bones to glass.” It doesn’t work as well as the full band original version. On the other hand, White Ribbon is a song that was recorded for this collection and sounds pleasingly off-kilter. The melody is quite odd, and Bill’s phrasing is unconventional, though he is in fine voice, and the guitar playing on this one is really good. So against the odds the track works really well.
I Break Horses, featured here is a BBC session version of this track (originally on Kicking a Couple Around). It’s more fully realised than the original, though it starts out very sparsely, before building up to an almost anthem with the chorus, aided and abetted by some fine piano-playing.
It’s definitely not Bill Callahan’s best stuff, but worth checking out if you’re a fan for a handful of quality tunes.
A Hit uses heavy distorted guitar to deliver a kind of slacker anthem (“it’s not gonna be a hit so why even bother with it”). It’s really not as good as it sounds (which isn’t that good really) and not one which I’ll listen over and over to. The rest of the tracks are of varying quality. Spanish Moss is a fairly slight, acoustic strum, while Chosen One is a fuller sounding track, built around a piano. It’s interesting to hear how weedily Bill Callahan sings on these older tracks, light years away from his more recent material.
For those unfamiliar with Smog, listening closely to some of these tracks can make them seem disturbing. Real Live Dress features a great bit of guitar picking, sounding foreboding, like something off Doctor Came at Dawn. Musically it’s great, though the subject matter is creepy in the extreme. Came Blue has a going nowhere melody and creepy, drab atmosphere, but Little Girl Shoes is creepier still, as Bill Callahan sings deadpan about being “attracted to your little girl shoes” over some barely there, sparse music. Em, okay?
Later on there is an acoustic version of Cold Blooded Old Times (off Knock Knock) which is just bill and his rickety guitar, and it doesn’t really work, it’s like the song has had the life sucked out of it, they type of version that “turns your bones to glass.” It doesn’t work as well as the full band original version. On the other hand, White Ribbon is a song that was recorded for this collection and sounds pleasingly off-kilter. The melody is quite odd, and Bill’s phrasing is unconventional, though he is in fine voice, and the guitar playing on this one is really good. So against the odds the track works really well.
I Break Horses, featured here is a BBC session version of this track (originally on Kicking a Couple Around). It’s more fully realised than the original, though it starts out very sparsely, before building up to an almost anthem with the chorus, aided and abetted by some fine piano-playing.
It’s definitely not Bill Callahan’s best stuff, but worth checking out if you’re a fan for a handful of quality tunes.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Album Review: (smog) – Rain On Lens
This is one of the more frustrating Smog/Bill Callahan albums. Released in 2001, with the addition of parentheses () it finds them/him moving away from the country sound of the Puke EP. The title track is a short intro which creates a pleasing foreboding atmosphere, but what follows is a series of ‘plod-along’ tracks which are fine in themselves but a whole album of them gets very repetitive. Each track kind of melds into the next one, and most of them go on far too long at 4 or 5 minutes, with little variation and no choruses.
As I said, there’s nothing wrong with any of these mechanised, grinding tracks, but a whole album of them gets a little dull. Dirty Pants is one of the stronger tracks, kicking off with what sounds like a metal hammer knocking in some nails and then some low-slung growling guitar, but this one actually evolves with a nice violin part in the middle. Lazy Rain isn’t bad either, a Velvet Underground style tale of walking home in the early hours to be greeted by a waiting (waking) female.
Probably one of the best things about this album is some of the titles. Live As If Someone Is Always Watching You isn’t quite as good a song as it is a title, it’s a little more at ease, more stripped down than some of the others, and final track Revanchism I can only surmise is something to do with ‘revanche’ which I gather is French for revenge. This track is almost jaunty, with some horns, and a couple of stops and starts which makes it at least more attention grabbing than the rest of the album.
If this was the first Smog album I had heard I probably wouldn’t have pursued any others.
Ideal circumstances to listen: On a, yes, rainy day walking down a dark stifling tunnel.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
EP Review: Smog – ‘Neath the Puke Tree
Smog released this EP in 2000, consisting of a couple of new songs and some re-recorded ones. The country-tinged I Was A Stranger, originally on the excellent Red Apple Falls album, is revisited here in a slightly more relaxed version, and with Bill Callahan’s vocals sounding more like a late 60s vintage Leonard Cohen, ie deep and vulnerable. Your Sweet Entrance is more familiar territory for Smog, as in it’s terribly sparse and not particularly appealing on the surface, yet it worms its way into your head with a nicely off-kilter guitar riff.
Jar of Sand is distinguished by what sounds like an actual jar of sand swishing back and forth in the background underneath another sparse track, Bill Callahan singing about a “tidepool just deep enough to drown in”. The Leonard Cohen voice is back for the somewhat dark Orion Obscured by Stars, while final track Coacheecayoo is a little brighter, Callahan singing stuff and nonsense over a loping finger picking pattern.
This one is tricky enough to find, probably for Callahan-obsessives only (interesting notion: being obsessive about an obsessive).
Jar of Sand is distinguished by what sounds like an actual jar of sand swishing back and forth in the background underneath another sparse track, Bill Callahan singing about a “tidepool just deep enough to drown in”. The Leonard Cohen voice is back for the somewhat dark Orion Obscured by Stars, while final track Coacheecayoo is a little brighter, Callahan singing stuff and nonsense over a loping finger picking pattern.
This one is tricky enough to find, probably for Callahan-obsessives only (interesting notion: being obsessive about an obsessive).
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Album Review: Smog – Dongs of Sevotion
Smog’s first album post-Jim O’Rourke came out in 2000, and is (even for them) a strangely disjointed listen. Bill Callahan has forsaken the simplicity of earlier albums like Red Apple Falls with a more ‘all over the place’ feel.
The album opens with the cheap synths of Justice Aversion, before starting in earnest with Dress Sexy At My Funeral. This track borrows a little in feel from Knock Knock’s Cold Blooded Old Times but turns into a classic Velvet Underground style grind drawl grind, Callahan delivering a great Lou Reed drawl. It’s a great idea for a song, and lyrically is very direct, leaving little to the imagination, the central message being that his wife should behave flirtatiously as a tribute to him (!). A classic.
Strayed sees the reurn of the cheap synths, and is pretty much a simple groove for the whole song, a little like the previous track slowed-down. The Hard Road features distorted guitar, a bit like this album’s No Dancing (Knock Knock). Easily Led is a distinct improvement, a pretty piano-led tune with the merest hint of percussion. It’s kind of a cross between the vulnerability of To Be of Use (Red Apple Falls) and the poignancy of River Guard (Knock Knock), though at barely 3 minutes it’s a little short, leaving you longing for more.
Bloodflow on the other hand outstays its welcome somewhat. It’s a complete change of mood, like many of the other tracks it’s mainly a simple groove for the seven minutes that it lasts, with backing choruses and thrilling changes in tempo thrown into the mix. Nineteen is a ghoulish, drowsy yet haunted sparse ballad complete with spooky wailing while Distance creeps along similarly until halfway through when the song explodes into life with synths, electric guitar, backing vocals and drums. Again there’s a particular Lou Reed sound to this track, though in common with many other songs it’s a little overlong at nearly eight minutes
A couple of long, sparse, downbeat tunes follow (Devotion, Cold Discovery) before the funereal yet triumphant trudge of Permanent Smile. Despite numerous misgivings on my part, the album does get under your skin, though it’s not the strongest Smog album.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Album Review: Smog – Knock Knock
Bill Callahan again worked with Jim O’Rourke on this 1999 album. It’s more expansive and diverse than previous album Red Apple Falls, indeed almost poppy, though it features a downright odd picture of a cat on the front!
The album opens with a sparse simple track, Let’s Move To The Country, consisting of Bill Callahan singing over a cello and a barely strummed guitar, but he follows this up with guitar anthem Held, which contains a great riff and beat. River Guard is a somewhat lengthy track, starting with the merest of guitar strums, before a wonderful piano part enters the mix. It’s a beautiful melody which builds up with percussion and more piano, before a great electric guitar before the end and gripping images in the lyrics (“stand there on a cliff with gooseflesh”).
He completely changes the mood with the first of his experiments featuring a children’s choir, the throwaway No Dancing, to which he sees fit to add heavy guitar and horns. He called this his album for teenagers, though I can’t imagine this being a teen anthem, however singalong it is! Teenage Spaceship is another brooding track with more gorgeous piano, while Cold Blooded Old Times is another uptempo, poppy tune featuring “the type of memories that turn your bones to glass” over strummed guitar.
After the moody Sweet Treat, Hit The Ground Running is another track featuring the children’s choir over a Velvet Underground-ish groove while Bill Callahan drawls agreeably through the song. The final 2 tracks return to the default Smog setting of sparseness. The album is a bit all over the place so it’s not a good one in terms of setting a mood, but it is probably his most trademark album in terms of the ‘Smog sound’.
The album opens with a sparse simple track, Let’s Move To The Country, consisting of Bill Callahan singing over a cello and a barely strummed guitar, but he follows this up with guitar anthem Held, which contains a great riff and beat. River Guard is a somewhat lengthy track, starting with the merest of guitar strums, before a wonderful piano part enters the mix. It’s a beautiful melody which builds up with percussion and more piano, before a great electric guitar before the end and gripping images in the lyrics (“stand there on a cliff with gooseflesh”).
He completely changes the mood with the first of his experiments featuring a children’s choir, the throwaway No Dancing, to which he sees fit to add heavy guitar and horns. He called this his album for teenagers, though I can’t imagine this being a teen anthem, however singalong it is! Teenage Spaceship is another brooding track with more gorgeous piano, while Cold Blooded Old Times is another uptempo, poppy tune featuring “the type of memories that turn your bones to glass” over strummed guitar.
After the moody Sweet Treat, Hit The Ground Running is another track featuring the children’s choir over a Velvet Underground-ish groove while Bill Callahan drawls agreeably through the song. The final 2 tracks return to the default Smog setting of sparseness. The album is a bit all over the place so it’s not a good one in terms of setting a mood, but it is probably his most trademark album in terms of the ‘Smog sound’.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Album Review: Smog – Red Apple Falls
Smog’s 1997 album saw mainman Bill Callahan team up with producer/multi-instrumentalist Jim O’Rourke to flesh out the sound with French horns, trumpets, piano and steel guitar featuring prominently in a bid to shrug off the ‘lo-fi’ tag. Whatever lo-fi means.
Callahan still had his rickety buzzing guitar at this point, and a fair degree of vulnerability (gone in his most recent work) remained in his vocals. This combination, along with generous helpings of horns and piano is how the album kicks off with the track The Morning Paper. The music mirrors the subject matter, sounding a bit like dawn breaking, the piano in particular here is quite lovely. Callahan’s vocals on this one sound a little ‘generic singer-songwriter’. Things get a little darker with Blood Red Bird, where Callahan retreats to his electric guitar and his lower register for a somewhat brooding number.
Red Apples is a pretty sparse gothic dirge featuring mainly piano as he sings about going “down to the river to meet the widow” and sleeping “in her black arms for a century”. I Was a Stranger picks up the tempo and the country influence with prominent steel guitar. To Be of Use is as vulnerable as Callahan gets as he sings in a high register for him over gently plucked guitar, with some borderline disturbing lyrics: “most of my fantasies are of to be of use.” Red Apple Falls, the title track continues with the ‘red’ theme in the song titles, and combines some warm countrified music reminiscent of Joni Mitchell's Amelia, again led by steel guitar, with harrowing subject matter (“when I think about my brother dying and my parents trying to slowly do themselves in”). You almost feel like you’re intruding, eavesdropping on a private catharsis.
Ex-Con lightens the mood, an almost jaunty, trumpet led song backed with some gentle synths, though lyrically it’s far from light, this time singing about kidnap and abduction, Inspirational sounds like a country song written by Lou Reed, strange to say as he hasn’t recorded any country music to my knowledge, before the final number, Finer Days, which is sparse enough featuring mainly bass and guitar and some muted horn. The atmosphere of this track is like the coda to the album, taking the musical themes from The Morning Paper and putting a nice twist on them to resolve the album.
Avoid this one like the plague if you’re a country music hater.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Album Review: Bill Callahan – Rough Travel for a Rare Thing
This is Bill Callahan’s first live album, and is released on vinyl or download only. So no CD. I’m not convinced of the merits of live albums, or downloads for that matter. However it’s a testament to my contrary nature that I purchased this download.
The music contained within is very strong for the most part, Callahan and his band play a tight set, with selections from the last Smog album – A River Ain’t Too Much To Love, and others reaching back as far as Wild Love. The concert took place before Callahan’s last album so nothing from that slab of genius in this set.
Our Anniversary opens the set, which is a strong song based on a repeating guitar pattern. The pace picks up with the toe-tapping Diamond Dancer, which takes a simple refrain and an acoustic guitar and combines them to great effect. Bowery is slower, building up gradually. Bill sounds in great voice here, and there’s something in the melody (and maybe in the lyrical content) that reminds me of Tom Waits.
There is a prominent fiddle right throughout this album which is something of an acquired taste, and it’s never more prominent than on Held. For anyone used to the original Smog version on Knock Knock this will take some getting used to as the electric guitar riff is replaced by the aforementioned droning fiddle.
More successful are some of the later tracks, like In The Pines (which sounds fuller than the original version), Cold-Blooded Old Times (with a touch of Gomez in the guitar riff!) and Rock Bottom Riser. The album finishes up with Bathysphere, which also works well in this context.
All in all it’s a nice-sounding album but inessential in my opinion.
The music contained within is very strong for the most part, Callahan and his band play a tight set, with selections from the last Smog album – A River Ain’t Too Much To Love, and others reaching back as far as Wild Love. The concert took place before Callahan’s last album so nothing from that slab of genius in this set.
Our Anniversary opens the set, which is a strong song based on a repeating guitar pattern. The pace picks up with the toe-tapping Diamond Dancer, which takes a simple refrain and an acoustic guitar and combines them to great effect. Bowery is slower, building up gradually. Bill sounds in great voice here, and there’s something in the melody (and maybe in the lyrical content) that reminds me of Tom Waits.
There is a prominent fiddle right throughout this album which is something of an acquired taste, and it’s never more prominent than on Held. For anyone used to the original Smog version on Knock Knock this will take some getting used to as the electric guitar riff is replaced by the aforementioned droning fiddle.
More successful are some of the later tracks, like In The Pines (which sounds fuller than the original version), Cold-Blooded Old Times (with a touch of Gomez in the guitar riff!) and Rock Bottom Riser. The album finishes up with Bathysphere, which also works well in this context.
All in all it’s a nice-sounding album but inessential in my opinion.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Album Review: Smog – The Doctor Came At Dawn
Smog’s 1996 album picks up from where previous album Wild Love left off. The cover is quite similar to Arab Strap’s debut, or is it the other way round? First track You Moved In is filled with foreboding strings and tinkling piano, along with carefully plucked guitar. Bill Callahan sounds less than thrilled at the prospect of the unidentified “you” moving in! Somewhere in the Night is more uptempo. At just over 2 minutes long is driven by a slightly off tune acoustic guitar and handclaps, and works as it only would for Smog.
Lize is a slower, well-constructed song based around a slowly picked electric guitar, as Callahan puns “they don’t make Lize (or lies) like they used to”. Then Spread Your Bloody Wings is darker, with a muddier, less clear melody, a bit more of an ambient piece.
After a short interlude, Everything You Touch Becomes A Crutch is faster before stalker centrepiece, All Your Women Things. It’s just short of seven minutes and is fairly epic, along similar lines to Red House Painters’ Medicine Bottle, both musically and lyrically. It’s the age old tale of love gone bad, Callahan painstakingly etches out every detail of all the aforementioned “women things” which used to be scattered round his room. The killer line is at the end, when we discover “it’s been 7 years and the thought of your name still makes me weak at the knees”.
A total departure for the following track, Whistling Teapot, which Bill Callahan sings in a totally different voice, stretching towards falsetto at times. Could almost be a different singer only for the fact that the track drips with loathing. Four Hearts In A Can echoes Lize in melody, but adds strings and is more wistful and yearning. It would have been a nice ending but this is Smog, so the final track, Hangman Blues is a suitably stark, barely-there song, filled with pauses.
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