Mecca Normal
Who Shot Elvis?
[Matador]
Rating: 6.9
Every year millions of people travel thousands of miles making
their pilgrimmage to Mecca. While the Islamic prophet Muhammad was
said to have made the mountain move for himself, it's doubtful that albums
like Who Shot Elvis? will make music fans move toward Mecca Normal.
With this release, Mecca Normal's 13th, the prolific Canadian duo of
guitarist David Lester and vocalist Jean Smith shift in a new and atonal
direction.
Smith writes songs that tell of love and loss; devotion and doubt. Some
tales delve into the nonsensical ("Ruby- Lucille, don't take your sphinx to
town."). The title track ruminates on the dissappearance of many of our
pop icons.
Lester bounces back and forth between rhythm guitar and leads, and he
sounds smooth doing it. His rhythm tracks are both timely and jangly; his
leads perverse and eclectic. Yet for all his technical expertise, Lester
doesn't appear to be satisfied making his songs sound sweet and clean.
Instead, he layers clanging guitars and gurgling fret runs on top of the
sometimes melodic guitar and vocal parts. The chaos created by all this
madness is disorienting.
Jean Smith's voice is reminiscent of Paul Shaffer's yearly imitation of
Cher singing "O! Holy Night" on The Late Show. Her siren- like blathering
gets old about 20 seconds into the record. It's a shame, because as a
lyricist she crafts some charming lines ("I know I said/ 'I love you'/ I
never thought you thought/ it was true.") that are tough to stomach in the
glare of her blare. Occasionally, Smith does sing competently for ten or
twenty second stretches, but she always quickly lapses back into her
monk-like drone.
For a (mostly) two-piece band, Mecca Normal are capable of creating a bevy of
noise. Rooted in the dissonance and counterpoint they seem to delight in
finding, their sound on Who Shot Elvis? is unique and largely
unforgettable, which isn't always a good thing.
-Lang Whitaker