Albums by this artist

Supper (2003)

Dongs Of Sevotion (2000)

Knock Knock (1999)

Smog

Knock Knock

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» ERIC WEDDLE | STAFF WRITER

Smog Knock Knock Drag City, 1999 RiYL: Cat Power, Olivia Tremor Control, existentialism

Bill Callahan has spent more than 12 years writing self-debasing pop songs under the guise of Smog. From the cacophony and basement fidelity of 1988's debut Sewn To The Sky to 1997's symphonic Red Apple Falls, Callahan has based songs around minimalistic two-note chords or corroded, rust-covered dirges.

Writing with the clarity and brutal honesty of Ernest Hemingway, Callahan's topics have more in common with existentialist Jean Genet. The possibility of hope or even redemption rarely creeps into his songs. Listeners are more likely to hear tales of drug-afflicted relationships, dead girlfriends and tortured love.

Each album in Callahan's discography has followed a closely defined sound. But on Knock Knock, his seventh LP, Callahan flirts with a number of different styles, making the album seem more of a collection of outtakes than a fully-focused affair.

On first listen, the album seems disastrous. Callahan's attempt at heavy fuzz guitar on "Held" and "No Dancing" is almost laughable, since his most brutal and edgy songs have been held together by fleeting acoustic whispers. Luckily, the album is saved by its final five songs, which are reminiscent of the more desperate writing on 1993's Julius Caesar.

A master at contrasting upbeat melodies with dark and fully negative lyrics, Callahan combines handclaps and a bar house piano on "Cold Blooded Old Times" as he happily sings about his sexual insecurities: "How can I stand / and laugh with the man / who redefined your body?"

Back-up musicians are not acknowledged on the album, but you can distinctly make out New York guitarist Loren MazzaCane Connors' unmistakable sorrowful sound in "Sweet Treat." Callahan's voice sounds surprisingly natural against MazzaCane's abstract and lingering notes.

The unfortunately titled "Teenage Spaceship" is surrounded by a light organ haze. It is the first time Callahan refers to himself and his past musical history when he sings "I was a teenage smog/sewn to the sky."

"Let's Move To The Country" and "Hit The Ground Running" seemingly refer to the much-publicized mental breakdown of Cat Power's Chan Marshall, and once again Callahan uses his bright melodies (and a children's choir) to give the song a false illusion of hope.

In closer "Left Only With Love," Callahan sings vacantly over a single repeated guitar note vibrating on the frets. His voice, calm and lonely, repeats the out-of-place phrase: "And I hope you find your husband / and a father to your children."

ERIC WEDDLE |