The Low Anthem
Oh My God, Charlie Darwin
Nonesuch
By Mike Randall
The Low Anthem clearly adheres to tradition. Set at sea, on rails and in the cities and open plains of an America that’s been both forgotten and found as a hollow imposter, the Providence band’s debut for Nonesuch, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin, is rooted deeply in Dust Bowl folk and steeped in the commentary and story-telling techniques from that time. Representing a hybrid of all things Americana, it’s fitting that everything from the hand silk-screened cover art to their tattered, sepia publicity shots elicits a form of nostalgia, and judging from the record’s title, they’re none too happy with where evolution has taken modern-day society.
Although not earth shatteringly innovative by any means, The Low Anthem can certainly lay claim to authenticity. They yearn for the values of a Steinbeck America and have no interest in returning to a home where nothing is recognizable anymore. Is it magnifying the soulless nature of our culture? Perhaps, but as with any great story a hint of theatre is required, and what would a folk song sound like without cynicism? What keeps Charlie Darwin compelling, however, isn’t necessarily the oratorical aspect or any kind of advanced literacy, it’s the tour through just about every building block in the catalog of our nation’s music box.
Running the gamut from vintage folk to gospel to saloon stomp to rustic blues, the Brown-educated trio has a sense of history that not only comes through in their tone and subject matter, but in how that subject matter is presented. On the album-opening sea shanty “Charlie Darwin,” frontman Ben Knox Miller uses nautical analogies to express wartime discontent and economic frustration. Above hushed, finger-picked guitar that gravitates slowly like a cloud (think of the melancholy of Sun Kil Moon), Miller uses a falsetto to sing of his hopelessness: “And who could heed the words of Charlie Darwin/ Fighting for a system built to fail/Spooning water from their broken vessels/As far as I can see there is no land.” With “Ticket Taker,” Miller sounds like Leonard Cohen reading a Walker Percy novel, taking a pessimistic world view but remaining hopeful about the return of his beloved Mary Anne as he laments, “I keep a stock of weapons should society collapse/I keep a stock of ammo/One of oil and one of gold/I keep a place for Mary Anne/Soon she will come home.” From there, it’s tales of riding the rails and leaving behind the ones you love (the Neil Young-esque, “To Ohio”), a confidence builder about staying strong during adverse times (“Don’t Tremble,” gentle folk a la Nick Drake) and a yearning for some kind of relevance (“To The Ghosts That Write History Books,” again recalling Young).
Where things get most interesting, however, is when the band abandons straight folk and inserts some variance into the mix. The mandolin-sprinkled, gospel-tinged sorta title track, “OMGCD,” is easily the most soulful track here, as it utilizes the recurring theme of death in pondering the dilemma of not knowing where you go when you perish. Jocie Adams’ funeral organ during “Cage The Songbird” provides a nice piece of orchestral folk Sufjan Stevens would enjoy, but the record really heats up during the one-two punch of “The Horizon Is a Beltway” and Kerouac/Waits’ “Home I’ll Never Be.” During the former, a Pogues-ian drunken, foot-stomping brawler, Miller sings of the McDonaldization of our cities and how “The skyline is on fire.” The latter, effortlessly segueing from its predecessor, makes you feel like you’re in the middle of a gunfight in a saloon, as banjo, rusty guitar and harmonica rattle the floors beneath your feet. It must be added that Miller does a very commendable Waits growl.
With so many bands today trying to wring new tricks out of folk music or synthesizing the style with more modern nuances, it’s refreshing to hear a band go back to the basics. And what makes it even more rewarding as a listener is that The Low Anthem isn’t a one-trick pony – they provide a sonic adventure across a variety of settings to the point every track is reminiscent of its own period and place – none of which could be mistaken for modern. With the unlikelihood of any evolutionary flaws being reversed any time soon, there’s little reason to think this trio won’t just keep on movin’. In fact, they’ll probably have plenty more to write about.
|
