I admit it. The first time I listened to this disc — Taunton,
Massachusetts trio Wheat’s major-label debut — I ended up
scratching my head, hitting eject, and putting it back in the
stack. “What exactly is it you guys are trying to be?” was the
question on my mind as snatches of earnest Jimmy Eat World emo,
airy U2-ish rock and catchy Fountains of Wayne smart-pop drifted by
in a furry haze of production diddles and musical left turns.
A week later, I listened again — and was glad of it.
Wheat’s long and winding road to a major included a pair of
indie discs (notably 1999’s well-regarded
Hope And Adams) and a long stretch in legal limbo thanks to
the collapse of Nude Records, who used to own their contract.
Regaining their freedom and signing to the label that’s also the
home of John Mayer has catapulted this band into the mainstream,
and while there are occasional awkward/trying-too-hard moments
here, they’re outshined by the boldness and sweetness of these
songs.
Per Second, Per Second, Per Second…Every Second (hereafter
Per Second) isn’t the easiest listen in the world because it
jumps around stylistically like a Ritalin-deprived 12-year-old.
Delicate ballads like “The Beginner” bump against heavier tunes
like “Can’t Wash It Off,” even as the dreamy/crafty experimentalism
of tracks like “Hey So Long (Ohio)” and “This Rough Magic” both
disorients and intrigues. Chants-over-strings meet crunchy guitars,
and a slow-jazz arrangement is decorated with a lengthy trumpet
solo… predictable this isn’t, but worth exploring? No
question.
There’s a certain familiarity to songs like “Closer To Mercury,”
with its Beatlesque backbeat, and kickoff single “I Met A Girl,”
with its somewhat obvious subject matter. And yet — the former’s
witty, self-deprecating lyrics ring true (“Wouldn’t you say / That
I’ve been an idiot for you / I couldn’t shake you if I tried”), and
the latter’s stuttering rhythm and spliced-in-from-some-other-song
bridge cleverly betray your melodic expectations. Same goes for the
expansiveness and hyperactive tempo shifts of “These Are Things”
and the Bono-esque in-and-out-of-falsetto vocals on “Life Still
Applies” — they lull you with melody and then startle you with
shifting dynamics.
The highlight of this disc for me is “Some Days,” which features
the brilliant mismatch of sunny-Saturday Steve Miller guitars and
laconic Bob Dylan vocals, and its companion “World United Already,”
another energizing, upbeat track with strong melodic hooks. Both
are — thankfully — relatively clean of the production effects
that intrude on some other tracks here. The only other misstep of
note is sequencing the somewhat slow, unremarkable “Breathe” second
on the disc.
So what are the boys in Wheat (guitarist Ricky Brennan, drummer
Brendan Harney and singer-guitarist Scott Levesque) trying to be? I
think the word is fresh — and I think they’ve achieved it. A
collection of sparkly, propulsive alterna-pop songs that take
imaginative turns,
Per Second is an impressive re-launching of Wheat’s
interrupted career. I’m glad I came around for another try.
