The Graham Weekly Album Review #1240
by George Graham
(Lost Highway 088 170 199 As broadcast on WVIA-FM 5/23/2001)
The history of rock music is littered with worthy bands who broke up beforethey had a chance to reach their potential, either musically or in terms ofpopularity. This week we have an excellent example, but with a bit of a twist.It's a post-breakup release that has been much anticipated by the group's fans.The band is Whiskeytown and their newly released CD is called Pneumonia.It turns out to be this fine roots-rock band's best record of their career, andnot just some odds and ends put together by a record company anxious for someproduct.
Whiskeytown was formed in North Carolina in the mid-1990s, and by the time oftheir 1997 release Strangers Almanac, produced by Jim Scott, the grouphad attracted a fair amount of critical attention for their combination ofmusical honesty and astute songwriting, not afraid to bring in an attractivepop melody. But the band's personnel was anything but stable. In 1997, threefifths of the group, including founding guitarist Phil Wandscher left. Leadvocalist Ryan Adams, who had wanted Whiskeytown to be a cooperative effort, bynecessity took on an increasingly prominent role. Others came and went -- atleast ten members joined and left -- and the group did a number of farewellappearances, though Adams, along with fiddle player Caitlin Cary andmulti-instrumentalist Mike Daly re-grouped from time to time. In 1998 and 1999,they worked on sessions that would lead to Pneumonia, which as theproject proceded, looked to be a kind of swan-song for the band.
Meanwhile, for Adams, still in his mid 20s, his own life and career had beenthrough similar changes, with love taking him to live in New York, followed bya move to Nashville when that relationship fell apart. Last year, he releasedhis first solo album, Heartbreaker an emotionally dark, but artisticallybrilliant recording that ended up on many critics' Best of the Year list. Adams was joined by neo-traditionalist Gillian Welch and herpartner David Rawlings, with guests including Emmylou Harris, who invited Adamsto appear on a Gram Parsons tribute special on PBS.
At the time of Heartbreaker, Adams made reference to Pneumonia ininterviews, saying he wanted it to be "a brilliant last record" forWhiskeytown. It had already been in the can at the time, but held in limbo bythe corporate machinations of record labels swallowed by merging mediaconglomerates.
Now, though a small subsidiary of a big label, Whiskeytown's Pneumoniais finally out, after some tweaks and a new mix. In an interview last yearAdams said that the band, or the fluid collection of people comprisingWhiskeytown, recorded some 30 songs in three phases, some more experimentalthan others. There was an attempt to give the album more of a pop spin, but inthe end, after engineer Scott Litt of R.E.M. fame had been brought in to mixthe project, Adams and producer Ethan Johns went back to a more basic, intimatesound, that turns out to be one of this album's biggest strengths. That is notto say that the pop experiments don't work. The writing team of Adams and MikeDaly can some up with some appealing melodies, and they also show theiraffinity to Sixties Beatles-influenced pop. But the brooding folkie in Adamscomes out as well. The arrangements run from almost solo to pieces withorchestral backing, and not just strings, but often a woodwind and brassensemble. The result is a gem of an album that spans a lot of musicaltemperaments, but keeps its honesty and tastefulness, while including a lot ofvery good writing.
Besides Adams, Daly, Ms. Cary, and drummer-producer Ethan Johns, othersappearing include bassist Jennifer Condos from Joe Henry's band and SmashingPumpkins guitarist James Iha, who tends toward roots rock on his own projectswhen he is not making grunge with the Pumpkins. Also appearing on guitars areBrad Rice and Tommy Stinson with Richard Causon on keyboards.
This generous 14-and-a-half track CD begins with The Ballad of CarolLynne, the song that perhaps most epitomizes the contemporary roots rocksound, with the exception of the subtle brass section, which has echoes goingback to old recordings by Robbie Robertson and the Band. It's nicely done, buthardly the most interesting on the CD. <<>>
Reminiscent of the sound of Whiskeytown's 1997 release Strangers Almanacis Don't Wanna Know Why, which shows the band's tuneful side.<<>>
Among the CD's highlights is Jacksonville Skyline one of several songsAdams has written on the subject of trying to find one's place in the world.The great writing combines with a tasteful backing hinting at Adams'Heartbreaker CD. <<>>
The 60s pop influence that has obviously affected Adams' musical directiontakes an interesting turn on Mirror Mirror, which instead of beinginfluence by Bob Dylan, the Band and folkies, turns to the sound of Britishinvasion bands for inspiration, complete with a horn a section. Adams andWhiskeytown pull it off very well. <<>>
Among what were the admittedly experimental tracks is Paper Moon, notthe old Tin Pan Alley standard, but an original song hinting at that era, withits somewhat campy arrangement. It's hardly the sort of thing one expects froma jangly-guitar roots rock band. <<>>
Another facet of the CD comes out on Sit and Listen to the Rain, whichhas the lyrical direction of, and ostensibly begins sounding like, anarchetypical roots rock piece. But it starts taking all kinds of interestingmusical directions as the piece unfolds. <<>>
At the CD's introspective best is the song Under Your Breath, a kind oflover's conflict song that makes effective use of the eclectic addedinstrumentation. <<>>
Back on the pop side of the album is Crazy About You, about asstraight-ahead a rock tune as you'll find. The short song is a reminder ofWhiskeytown's penchant for hummable tunes you can dance to. <<>>
The album's various diverse influences seem to come together in what I think isprobably its finest track, Easy Heart, which combines great lyricwriting with the introspective folky sensibility, and the subtle butinteresting orchestral arrangements. <<>>
In what has now become an almost obligatory fad, there is a hidden,undocumented track near the end, another of the experimental pieces -- a quirkytune with stacked backing vocals and a steel drum mixed into the melange.<<>>
Pneumonia, Whiskeytown's newly released, supposedly final album,recorded between two and three years ago, is by far the group's best work. In away, it breaks new ground for a roots rock band, where adhering to the basicsof folk, country and early rock influences comprise the credo. This album ismuch more freewheeling, with its downright interesting experimentations withthe orchestral arrangements, a mix of other ingredients including psychedelicpop, and occasional lyrical departures from the standard fare, making this asignificant album, and an ironic one, considering how this amorphous group hadhit its peak before they went their separate ways. Though Ryan Adams, by hislead vocals, does tend to dominate the sound of the record, it was Mike Dalywho co-wrote almost all the material with Adams, so he was a major part of thisswan-song effort. It's also interesting hearing this CD after Adams solo album,released last year, but recorded a year after this one. One can hear where hismusic was heading.
Our sound quality grade for Pneumonia is definitely an "A." I heard alittle bit of distortion on Adams voice in one spot, but otherwise, therecording is very clean, and the dynamic range is refreshingly wide, a rarityin these days of all-loud-all-the-time pop CDs, especially coming out on asubsidiary of a major label. Ethan Johns' new mix for the CD was first-rate,and it was preserved by mastering engineer Doug Sax.
Whiskeytown made its mark, intermittently, in the 1990s as one of the brightlights of the roots rock scene. In the best show-business tradition, they madetheir exit at the very peak of their form. One can only hope that maybe theywill decide to get together again after all. One can never tell with thisband.
(c) Copyright 2001 George D. Graham. All rights reseved.
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