Carl Sandburg Visits Me In A Dream

It’s pretty crazy to think that The Weepies husband-and-wife duo of Deb Talan and Steven Tannen have already come out with their 4th LP Be My Thrill! What with a rather young child in tow, I would understand how a studio album and a 36-city tour would be arduous. I could wax more about the unexpected prolific nature of The Weepies, but I’d rather talk about other items. Like the fact that I don’t see The Weepies as just music artists. For some reason, there’s this very human, ‘unprofessional’ quality to their music. I get the sense that I am getting an unprecedented, unencumbered, unfiltered look into their lives as a married couple, as parents, as unqiue individuals on their own. I like the transparency, I relish it, I relate to it.

Take the song “Empty Your Hands”, at the end of which Deb Talan sweetly exclaims, ‘Our baby learned to run today / in circles on the grass / His joyful face it radiates / These moments go so fast / let them go.’ What a sweet insightful view on what it must be like to see your child growing up, and the only way to capture these fleeting moments are in your mind.  And The Weepies penchant for playing with words is as bright as ever on the whimsical, country-twinged “Hope Tomorrow”: ‘A windy fitful day in winter / charging toward the Ides of May / The climate now is cling to splinters’.

The Weepies have mastered the art of the delicate, achy ballad: From the waltzy “Please Speak Well of Me” to “They’re in Love, Where Am I?”, Talan and Tannen seem to express a certain confidence in their relationship — enough so to talk about past loves, their own love, and all that that entails.

The golden AM radio “I was Made for Sunny Days” is as bright and shiny and American as a Chevy Camaro, while album highlight “Hard to Please” is an edgier sound (for the Weepies, at least) that sees the duo expanding their horizons. I give credit to the Weepies for broadening their sound, with the B-52 bass heavy “Be My Thrill” that really propels the middle of the album forward. Tannen’s vocals are somewhat hidden on this record, but his solo work in “Be My Honeypie” and his harmonious stylings on “Hummingbird” are simply beautiful. If there’s one complaint, I’d like to see Tannen contribute more vocals.

Anyway, enough. Go get a copy of Be My Thrill.

HEY CHICAGOANS! The Weepies are coming to Space in Evanston, IL (just north of the city) on October 30th.

Listen to “I Was Made For Sunny Days”

Listen to “Hard to Please“

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Peace and Booty Grease,

Benji

Never back Sufjan into a corner. Never try to stereotype him. Don’t even think about creating a new genre so you can describe him and his music.

Why?

Because he’ll disappoint you. He’ll tell you that he’s going to play catch with you, and he stands you up. He’ll blow your mind and he’ll frustrate you beyond comprehension (I suppose you would comprehend the frustration). Either way, the point is, never back Sufjan into a corner.

Case in point: his new album The Age of Adz. This is Sufjan’s first full-length release since 2005′s magnum opus (yeah, it’s looking like that will be the peak of his career) Come on fell the Illinoise, Sufjan has lived in relative obscurity. He has seemed to enjoy all the press, all the assumptions, all the glitz and glamor. He’s opted for small, unsung projects such as The BQE and rereleasing The Year of the Rabbit. Perhaps that was foreshadowing for what was to come, as The Age of Adz is a return to the esoteric electronic idiosyncratic drones of his youth. Perhaps you can tell that I’m not entirely satisfied with The Age of Adz, and sadly my days as an unabashed Sufjan fan have abruptly come to an end.

The highlights: The delicate but deceptive lullaby of “Futile Devices” has a melancholy tinge that is a perfect exercise in discretionary emotive folk.  The idiosyncratic mantra of “Vesuvius” is not only crazy catchy, but the introspective comparison between Sufjan and the destructive Mt. Vesuvius that laid waste to the great city of Pompeii are cryptic yet well-received. It combines 2 great things: (1) play on words (Vesuvius and Sufjan) and (2) random historical references. I get the sense that when he says “Sufjan, follow your heart”, The Age of Adz is exactly what he’s talking about. This is partially shot at both critics and lionizers alike. I know, I just blew your mind with that.

The lowlights: I’m all for experimentation and playing with sounds. But you know what? When the only adjective I can think of for a song is ‘grating’, that can’t possibly be a good thing. The listener of The Age of Adz is inundated with a hodgepodge of ridiculous juxtapositions of sounds, from the incoherent “Get Real Get Right” to the Frenchman-meets-twisted orchestra “All for Myself” to the impossibly long and insufferable “Impossible Soul” that clocks in at a measly 25 minutes.

I have to cleanse palate after this effort. I’m going to queue up The Avalanche, at least these are B-sides I can deal with.

That said, I’m going to hear Sufjan this week in concert, so here’s to hoping that his effusive stage presence changes things!

Take a listen to The Age of Adz for yourself.

Listen to “Futile Devices”

Listen to “Vesuvius“