{"id":40359,"date":"2007-07-04T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2007-07-04T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/roman-candle\/"},"modified":"2007-07-04T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2007-07-04T00:00:00","slug":"roman-candle","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/roman-candle\/","title":{"rendered":"Roman Candle"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most debut albums show just a glimmer of an artist\u2019s full potential, containing the first burgeoning seedlings of the fully realized genius to come; however, a few first releases are surprisingly and stunningly solid from the get-go (Arcade Fire\u2019s Funeral<\/em>, Appetite for Destruction, Ten<\/em>\u00a0and Are You Experienced<\/em> come to mind). <\/p>\n

Elliott Smith\u2019s deceptively subdued Roman Candle<\/em>, recorded largely on a borrowed four-track tape recorder after splitting from his previous gig as frontman of Portland\u2019s Heatmiser, is one of the rare latter, proving his exceptional ability to craft a flawless pop song.<\/p>\n

Roman Candle<\/em> begins with the brooding, bottled anger of its title track, with lyrics like \u201cI\u2019m a Roman candle \/ my head is full of flames \/ I want to hurt him \/ I want to give him pain\u201d delivered in an ominous whisper and backdropped by the relentless strum of an acoustic guitar. \u201cRoman Candle\u201d\u2019s stark, hazy instrumentation is ultimately what allows Smith\u2019s hauntingly intimate lyrics to become all the more potent. <\/p>\n

Even when the album shifts to a lighter, folkier tone on \u201cCondor Avenue,\u201d which was reportedly penned when Smith was 17, undercurrents of the slow-burning rage of \u201cRoman Candle\u201d are still notably present; though Smith\u2019s vocals are hushed and dreamlike, the venom nevertheless manages to seep through in lines like \u201cWhat a shitty thing to say \/ did you really mean it? \/ You never said a word to me about what passed between us so now I\u2019m leaving you alone \/ You can do whatever the hell you want to.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo Name #1,\u201d the first of four tracks of similar anonymity, paints a portrait of an awkward, uncomfortable partygoer masterfully described as \u201clooking kind of spooky and withdrawn \/ like he could be underwater;\u201d slyly, the pronouns shift from \u201che\u201d to \u201cI\u201d as he realizes there is nothing to do but \u201cleave alone, you don\u2019t belong here\u201d as the shoegazing melodies finally drift away to nothing. \u201cNo Name #4\u201d is again instrumentally sparse, solely the squeaky finger-plucking of Smith\u2019s acoustic guitar backing the track\u2019s immediately evocative lyrics of a woman escaping an abusive relationship.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast Call\u201d is another Smith is said to have written in high school, an aggressive, biting track that suddenly shifts from a lone acoustic guitar strum to Smith accusingly snarling in his full-voice \u201cYou\u2019re a crisis \/ you\u2019re an icicle \/ you\u2019re a tongueless talker \/ you just don\u2019t care what you say\u2019 before dissolving into a resigned, ceaseless plea to just be delivered into sleep.<\/p>\n

The album closes on a decidedly less incensed note with the instrumental \u2018Kiwi Maddog 20\/20,\u201d which features shimmering guitars and loose drumming as a surprisingly suitable contrast to the preceding sparkling imagery.<\/p>\n

Roman Candle<\/em> often finds itself overshadowed by Smith\u2019s later albums, such as his eponymous follow-up or the more filled-out instrumentation of Either\/Or<\/em>, but I\u2019d be hard-pressed to agree. This album is much more than simply a stepping stone to future successes; Roman Candle<\/em> instead is an exquisite release in its own rite, one that resounds far beyond its brief runtime and serves as a shining reminder of Smith\u2019s inimitable, endearing talent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":28859,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[6023],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-40359","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-elliott-smith","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40359","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\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40359"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40359\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40359"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=40359"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=40359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}