Son Volt
The Search
»
Son Volt
The Search
Sony/Legacy, 2007
RiYL: Neil Young, Uncle Tupelo |
On his two full-length solo records, plus an EP and a live record, Farrar did all he could to ditch his patient and unwavering fan base--earned from the brilliant and groundbreaking work as the chief singer/songwriter for Uncle Tupelo and, later, Son Volt. While not a bad album, 2001’s Sebastapol didn’t quite measure up to anything from his earlier material; and the less said about 2003’s Terrior Blues, the better. (In all fairness, Terrior Blues isn’t terrible, its just so damned weird and ambitious that, not unlike The Clash’s Sandanista!, it takes about three years to get through).
So when Farrar reformed Son Volt--well, maybe more accurately he reformed the idea of Son Volt, as Farrar remains the only original member of the band--long-time fans held their breath, but were duly rewarded with Okemah and the Melody of Riot. Okemah was no doubt Farrar’s best album since Son Volt’s 1995 debut Trace and certainly rekindled hope in the faithful that he was still a force. From the blistering “Jet Pilot,“ a stinging attack on George W.Bush, to the soothing, rootsy “Gramophone,” Okemah reestablished Farrar as not only a top-notch songwriter, but a relevant one as well.
But while Son Volt Version 1.0’s second album Straightaways was conceived and performed as a sequel to Trace, Son Volt 2.0’s The Search is in no way Okemah Part II. In some ways the new direction might be a dissapointment for long-time Farrar fans, as Okemah provided so much promise that, by embracing the concept of Son Volt, Farrar would churn out another classic, stripped down record.
The Search, though, is anything but stripped down. Generally Farrar has failed when trying to create a “big” sounding album, see Son Volt 1.0’s Wide Swing Tremelo and Farrar’s own Sebasatpol. Here he succeeds, for the most part. Unlike Trace or Okemah, The Search has its weak spots; it also has its odd Fugazi-esque tunes as well.
In many ways, The Search isn’t really a Son Volt album at all but an amalgam of the sounds that have inspired Farrar throughout his career. You can hear traces of the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main St. on “The Picture,” probably the first Son Volt song with a loud and catchy horn section. You can hear R.E.M. on the title track “The Search,” Neil Young on “Adrenaline and Heresy,” and the Replacements on “Satellite.” There’s also the good ol’ loud, gritty Jay Farrar on “Action,” “Circadian Rhythm,” and “Beacon Soul.”
And, strangely, the album contains lyrics, making it much easier for reviewers to parse over Farrar’s musings, something which has become a bit of a fool’s errand, as Farrar has not been known for his, shall we say, clarity.
On The Search, Farrar does not disappoint lyrically, taking on the Iraq War, global warming, fast food and, according to the press releases accompanying the album, stem cell research. While it might be hard to imagine most songwriters tapping away at the typewriting asking themselves, “What rhymes with ‘molecular biology’,” it isn’t that tough to wonder if that is what, indeed, Farrar did.
Like, say, in “The Search,” Farrar’s take on fuel combustion and climate change:
“Nothing to take back or exchange/ Double engine dharma express train/ Always dreaming/ it’s the search not the find/ Louder than subs on a street machine/ 4-stroke internal combustion burning coal,” Farrar growls in his familiar gravelly baritone.
Or in “Adrenaline and Heresy,” where he addresses love in a quick-fix society over a droning, repetitive yet effective piano chord:
“Out of your arms into the absence pit/ No collection of words can describe it/ A concrete conscience here is worth nil/ A placebo pill full of bitter comfort/ Bitter comfort.”
As the song picks up, so do the lyrics: “High on adrenaline/ it’s a new day,” he repeats as the song fades out.
He gets a bit more simplistic and straightforward on “Automatic Society,” a rousing, stinging number with sharp, cascading power chords, a Hendrix-esque bridge, and a gutteral vocal.
“No money down just your life/ that you don’t own/ Its automatic/ Special offer only facelift society’s soul/ Its automatic/ Madness of love feeds the organ grinder/ Its automatic.”
If the album suffers from anything, it's repetition. “Methamphetamine” and “Circadian Rhythm” share the same plodding monotone, while the opener “Slow Hearse” and “Adrenaline and Heresy” seem like outtakes from the same song.
But perhaps that’s the point. The Search is laced with references condemning our increasingly electric and quick-fix society, where practically everyone’s medicated--either legally or illegally--while a practically Orwellian government grows in power while no one notices, or cares. I might be taking the album a bit too literally, but everything on The Search is there for a reason, and, for the most part, it is well worth the trouble.
RODEO ROB | An expert on all things "alt," Rob spends his days covering the energy industry and his nights covering the DC-area bars. Raise yer glass especially high to this man, for he has contributed to this site constantly since its creation four years ago.