Beachwood Sparks
Once We Were Trees
[Sub Pop; 2001]
Rating: 6.6
The good, the bad, the ugly and the twee: psychedelic pop is back, and who could
have foreseen it? Bands that might've been dabbling in electronics five years
ago, or maybe taking a stab at incorporating a few choreographed dance moves
into their act are now chucking their drum machines for four-track recorders and
flange pedals. It's a movement, baby, and if you're hip enough, you can get in
on the ground floor! And hey, truth be told, it's not like the stuff has a
chance in hell of being popular, so you don't have to worry about someone
stealing your scene, and... whoa, hold up. You mean this isn't the next big
fad? That puts a damper on me.
You see, the thing about the original psych-pop was that it wasn't designed for
the long haul. Kids would form a band in high school, play some Them covers,
and be happy that the prom gig wasn't booked yet. Then, the bass player would
fall into some acid, communicate the disease to his friends, and the next thing
we knew, Jerry Garcia's considered one of the best guitarists of all time. Well,
maybe it wasn't exactly like that, but after hearing enough Electric Prunes records,
I'm wondering if the psychedelic era may have been hiccup in time rather than an
actual musical movement.
Perhaps bands like Beachwood Sparks get around the rather stifling, sub-genre
dead end by making sure their homages to old-schoolers like Gram Parsons and the
Byrds are spot-on, and not devoid of actual songwriting. To be fair, the band
isn't going straight for the paisley, instead opting for cosmically affected
country-pop, deep down fairly straightforwardly. And to be even fairer, this is
something they have in common with bands like the Byrds, so when in doubt, give
them the benefit. Once We Were Trees is their second album. Let's listen
in.
After a short instrumental prologue ("Germination"), things begin in earnest
with "Confusion is Nothing New." Running down the checklist, I hear an
echo-treated mix (maybe a result of the production work of partner-in-crime, J.
Mascis), drawn-out, lazily enunciated phrasing, slide guitar beamed in from
Saturn, drone matching twang jab for jab-- yeah, it sounds like hippie music.
But it's got a good hook and nice vocal harmonies, and you could do a lot worse
trying to drum up sunny music for the picnic. I can't understand anything
they're saying, except for someone telling me not to "give in to the things
that take away from you," so maybe I should add inspirational freewill
philosophies to the agenda.
This leads to the down-home white funk of "Sun Surrounds Me," and more nasal
soul than you could find on anyone to the right of John Sebastian. But again,
it's got a hook that makes you shake things, and the harmonies are cool. In
fact, the subtle details like the Hammond organ licks and unexpected freaky coda
are so idiomatic I wonder if this stuff isn't more academic than innocuous.
Bah, I won't bring up any critical bad vibes here.
Of course, there's a Sade cover ("By Your Side"), though I think Beachwood Sparks
have a better handle on sly retro-hipness than she does, and therefore shouldn't
need to perform ironic cover songs to be cool. It does sound nice (one of their
better modes, as far as I can tell), in a "Whiter Shade of Pale" kind of way,
and it's possible that the band simply liked the song, and wanted to play it
just because. Rock critics don't handle sincerity very well, so I'll leave you
with my suspicion that they were only trying to make waves on indie playlists
with this, and by doing so could inadvertently cement their gimmick-band status.
Bah, the bad vibes again!
Joking aside, I do think bands that know something about the history of their
music are rare enough, and I admire Beachwood Sparks just on principal.
Throughout the album, it's obvious just how many old records they must have
listened to, and it does take a certain love of life to work this hard bringing
those sounds into the 21st century. As the album ends, drenched in the fuzzback
of fantastically hirsute trash-rock (featuring an even more fantastic noisy
guitar solo), I can start to forgive the similarities the band has with its
forefathers. When I take into account that 1) there are actual songs here, not
just parodies, and 2) most of the tunes were fun to listen to, I remember that
playing rock-- psychedelic, trashy or otherwise-- doesn't have to be an exercise
in originality. Maybe, it just has to be a way to pass the time. Nothing more
required on a good day for a light jam and a daydream.
-Dominique Leone, November 1st, 2001