Approximate Hellhound vs the Monkey Demon (2007)
10 tracks, 31 minutes
Bandcamp ∙ Spotify ∙ iTunes
Reid Paley is a man who laughs in the face of life's unrelenting ugliness. He sings about deep, complicated emotions but he makes it sound like a laugh, or at least a great excuse to rock around and smash things. Because for those complicated emotions he has an uncomplicated sound. For this album, his band is just a lo-fi trio of electric guitar, bass (both double and guitar) and a small drum kit, and they play together loosely. Together with the album's production, it feels so intimate and intense, giving the real feel of being in a small, dingey and smoke-filled bar.
Paley's is a style that is a bit harder to describe. The elements are easy to hear – blues, rock'n'roll, grunge, country, a slight Tom Waits jazz to it, an occasional Bob Dylan-esque turn-of-phrase – but just listing them doesn't really give an indication of the end result. There's some alchemy going on in the process that turns all of these iconic styles into one that it all his own. A lot of it is down to his personality, and the personality of his voice, which is gravelly and gruff. It's obviously a perfect fit for the louder, angrier and bluesier pieces ('Everything is Going Wrong (and That's Alright)', 'Yr Polish Uncle'), but it also provides a really nice, even intriguing, juxtaposition during the softer, more thoughtful songs ('Roses Red and Violets Black and Blue', 'The Dark Sky'). And then of course you get double the fun when he mixes up the both on tracks like 'Stay Awhile' and 'See You Again'.
At first I was a bit disappointed at the length of the album, but I've come to realise the genius of that. There's no dearth of songs on here, it's just that in true punk fashion, none of them stick around for very long – most don't reach the three-minute mark. But at the end of the album, it still feels like a full meal; you've gone on an interesting musical journey, and back in time for tea.
Approximate Hellhound is an album I got when it first came out and that I keep coming back to, and I'm sure I will for a long time. It's a shame Paley’s never made it over to the UK since I've been able to get into 18+ venues. In fact, this was his last solo album to date; he made one more in a duo with Pixies' Frank Black in 2011, but after that, seems to have drifted away from music. I really hope he finds his way back there eventually, so that we may hear more of his simple, complicated, heavy, soft and kinda crazy songs.
No comments:
Post a Comment