Smog
'Neath the Puke Tree EP
[Drag City]
Rating: 6.8
When I was younger, I always displayed a penchant for botany. So much, in fact,
that I had the entire plant world broken up into three botanical classifications.
There were the "things that go ouch," such as stinging nettles and briar,
"things that make itch," like poison oak and poison ivy, and "things that
smell bad," like the cat pee-smelling ailanthus, and the vomit-smelling
fruit-bearing female ginkgo tree.
Granted, I was working within a very limited geographical scale. The world
outside the Northeastern United States undoubtedly contains many, many more
prickly, poisonous, and smelly plants than I have encountered. Though for me,
a puke tree will forever be a female ginkgo. I get the distinct feeling that
God's green earth is home to many, many more plants that smell like vomit.
When I first saw Smog's new 'Neath the Puke Tree EP, I immediately
assumed that the EP's title alluded to the ginkgo. But then I looked on the
back of the jewel case, and noticed that the EP was recorded in Melbourne,
Australia, a place that is no doubt home to more puke-scented flora than New
York City. But that's not the only level on which I'm failing to connect to
this record. For the first time in a while, I'm starting to get the feeling
that Bill Callahan's instincts aren't working to his advantage. A scary and
depressing thought, considering the amazingly consistent body of awesome work
he's produced in the past decade.
'Neath the Puke Tree has a decidedly more country feel to it than
Callahan's past work. And no, I don't mean "alt-country," with its twanging
Telecasters and torn denim jackets. There's a serious, old-school country
influence at work here, especially on the EP's opener, "I Was a Stranger."
Utilizing a simple but effective motif of strummed acoustic guitar, relatively
straightforward drumming, and flourishes of slide guitar, the track effectively
paints a dusty picture of a sun-drenched desert that would be very much at
home in modern-day western music.
Breaking slightly away from this formula, the record's second track is its
standout. Barren and desolate, "Your Sweet Entrance" is classic Smog, full
of vague romantic longing as expressed through Bill Callahan's claustrophobic
vocals. It also contains one of the most masterfully executed weirdo chord
changes I've heard in ages.
Unfortunately, at about this point, Callahan seems to have forgotten the first
rule of recording sparse, guitar-driven ballads: tune the fucking thing! "A
Jar of Sand" could be a great track for all I know, but I just can't get past
the fact that his guitar is so painfully out of tune. I'm not sure what would
be worse: if the guitar is out of tune due to general laziness, or due to a
shoddy attempt at adding an "experimental" feel to the track. Either way, it's
not any fun, and makes what would otherwise be a perfectly listenable couple
of tracks (the fourth, "Orion Obscured by Stars," is also plagued by seriously
out of tune guitar warblings) unbearable. Still, even with these few
thoroughly frustrating tracks, 'Neath the Puke Tree manages to yank
itself out of the abyss in time for its closer, the swampy "Coacheecayoo."
After having this EP on repeat play for a few hours, I'm feeling three
conflicting emotions. First, I'm frustrated that Bill Callahan didn't bother
tuning the damn guitar (we've established that, right?). Secondly, I'm
grateful that this isn't a full-length, because even though it's at times
really likable, none of the tracks have the same punch as the better of Smog's
album tracks. Finally, I'm hoping that my two major gripes with this EP won't
carry over to the next full-length. Shit, maybe it's just really hard to find
a tuning fork in Melbourne.
-Matt LeMay