\nSmile<\/i> started out feeling like a long-overdue exploratory
\njourney to me. I’d heard a fair amount about the Jayhawks before: a
\nsmart alt-country\/country-rock collective with a pair of gifted
\nsongwriters\/lead voices, one of whom (Mark Olson) left the band a
\nfew years back. Named one of the most influential bands of the
\ndecade by
\nRolling Stone<\/i>, made a “classic” album several years back
\n(1991’s
\nHollywood Town Hall<\/i>), critics’ darlings, etc. etc.<\/p>\n
In other words, one of those bands I kept telling myself I ought
\nto know more about\u2026 but didn’t. I’d never heard a single
\nsong by them before picking up this album a month ago.<\/p>\n
The opening title tune was all it took for me to know I was in
\nfor something special. Dreamy lyrics, densely layered male-female
\nharmony vocals, and rock instrumentation filled out with an
\nassertive string section. I could hear the “alt,” but where was the
\n“country”? Of course, the end result was probably just what the
\nband was going for in the case of rookie listeners like me: from
\nthat point forward, I cast aside all expectations and just drank in
\nthis remarkable album.<\/p>\n
The Jayhawks draw deeply from influences ranging from Gram
\nParsons to R.E.M. and everything in between, while managing to put
\ntheir unique stamp on every tune. They’ll drill out a
\nletter-perfect slice of Byrds\/Tom Petty jangle-rock like “I’m Gonna
\nMake You Love Me,” yet imbue it with a completely unique (and in
\nthis case, decidedly off-center) point of view. Then they’ll grab
\nonto a sleepy acoustic riff like the one that anchors “What Led Me
\nTo This Town” and convince you they’re about to serve up a
\nstraightforward country ballad, right up until the song blossoms
\ninto its striking, hauntingly beautiful chorus.<\/p>\n
The latter track also gives you another taste of the rich
\nharmonies between lead singer Gary Louris and keyboard
\nplayer\/harmony vocalist Karen Grotberg (who departed for maternity
\nleave just prior to the album’s completion, to be replaced by Jen
\nGunderman). It’s a gorgeous effect used numerous times on this
\nsmartly arranged album, without ever coming close to wearing out
\nits welcome.<\/p>\n
At this point, it seems like track four could be just about
\nanything. And it is\u2026 “Somewhere in Ohio” kicks off with a
\nsimple acoustic strum and a single looping keyboard tone layered
\nover a techno-flavored beat. Louris croons two elusive, vaguely
\nthreatening opening verses (“You were feeling like a bomb without a
\ntarget”)\u2026 the music slowly builds\u2026 and then the
\nelectric guitars kick in with a stunning crunch, upping the ante a
\ngood 50 decibels. From there, the song falls back and surges again
\nand again, coloring the basic rhythm track with guitars that range
\nfrom Jangle 101 to feedback-laden power chords, plus an incredibly
\ninfectious “Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba” pop chorus. It’s a
\nlittle of this, a little of that, and a knockout all the way.<\/p>\n
Playing it smart, the Jayhawks then bring it back home with the
\nsimply stunning countrified ballad “A Break In The Clouds.” Some
\nactual slide guitar soars over Grotberg’s artful piano melodies as
\nshe and Louris offer up another achingly pretty chorus-in-harmony:
\n“Every time that I see your face \/ It’s like cool, cool water
\nrunning down my back.”<\/p>\n
It’s tempting at this point to simply end the review with “etc.,
\netc.,” because the rest of the disc is equally rangy, gutsy, smart
\nand beautiful. Veering from airy pop (“Queen Of The World,” “Mr.
\nWilson”) to melodic heavy rock (“Life Floats By,” “Pretty Thing”),
\nto the plaintive, enigmatic ballad “Broken Harpoon,” the Jayhawks
\njust keep surprising you. Double-time techno beats are paired with
\ndistorted guitars and soaring pop choruses (“Wildest Dreams”),
\nsounding somehow right at home alongside Dylanesque laments
\n(“Better Days”).<\/p>\n
With Olson’s departure, Louris is now the band’s principal
\nsongwriter, but many of the best songs here are the results of his
\ncollaborations with Grotberg, bassist Marc Perlman, and drummer Tim
\nO’Reagan. Perlman and O’Reagan’s influence is especially evident in
\nthe strong rhythm tracks that characterize the whole album – a
\ntrademark also of producer Bob Ezrin (of
\nThe Wall<\/i> fame), who clearly encouraged the band to push its
\nlimits.<\/p>\n
Going for the big exit – and scoring – the Jayhawks finish
\nSmile<\/i> with the thundering, epic “Baby, Baby, Baby,” in which
\nLouris adopts the role of a fellow whose sudden, spectacular demise
\nmay somehow redeem his betrayal of his lover. (Is this Shakespeare
\nor rock and roll??) A delicately modulated, almost tuneful wail of
\nfeedback closes things out with panache.<\/p>\n
What the Jayhawks have accomplished is what the best bands
\nstrive to: use their influences as a launching point rather than a
\ntemplate. There are references to Parsons\/McGuinn, Buck\/Stipe,
\nJagger\/Richards and 70s heavy metal sprinkled throughout
\nSmile<\/i>. Yet the music and lyrics are sparklingly original
\nstart to finish. Call it roots rock, call it “y’allternative,” call
\nit new traditionalist \u2026 call it whatever you want. It’s
\nthoroughly modern music that respects the past; carefully conceived
\nmusic that ignores boundaries; smartly imagined music that aims
\nhigh, dares much and succeeds brilliantly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":25644,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[5691],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-36850","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-the-jayhawks","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36850\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36850"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=36850"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=36850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}