Drinking summer Simon Joyner’s confessional greatness Simon Joyner’s singing style is conversational and flat in a way that evokes Townes Van Zandt. But his arrangements are more dynamic, building to multi-instrumental crescendos that work against the damaged intimacy of his voice. He’s still damaged; he’s a singer-songwriter. It’s just the damage is a little more structured, a little more pleasing on first listen. Don’t be fooled, though: Simon Joyner is investment music. His lyrics are allusive and dense, as when he describes a spider that wraps a cicada in a ball and wonders if, by “drinking summer’s voice,” it will bring on fall. That’s a songwriter building a corpus, right there. You don’t see a lot of spiders eating cicadas, though, and Joyner is walk-
ing an interesting line between candid diary and something more mannered and weird. “Drunken Boat” is a fine example, beginning in a more or less confessional form but rising to the associative delirium of Lou Reed’s “Street Hassle.” Joyner is a lending library of influences, and you can hear his vocal turnarounds in late-period Bright Eyes songs, just as you can hear Dylan’s flourishes in Joyner’s. He is a craftsman operating in a long tradition, and it’s satisfying to hear him work. (Dan Brooks) Simon Joyner plays the ZACC Wed., May 14, at 8 PM with Wooden Wand as part of the Living Room concert series put on by Undertow Music Collective. $20 online at undertowtickets.com.
Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Phosphorescent Harvest Chris Robinson, the charismatic Black Crowes frontman and band leader for the Chris Robinson Brotherhood, has been carrying the the soulful boogie-woogie torch since the early ’90s. His music has served as a gateway drug to past styles for kids raised in a digital era and it has reassured baby boomers that there’s still plenty of good ol’ rock swagger out there. CRB’s latest release, Phosphorescent Harvest, is a mid-tempo mix of retro riffs, jangly folk and a double dose of classic psychedelia to keep the heads swirling. Oddly, it’s not Robinson who really steals the show on this record. He never quite hits the howling fervor he’s so capable of, instead favoring a more laidback delivery that leaves something to be desired.
The fretwork of ex-Cardinals axeman Neil Casal and the spacey keyboard sounds conjured up by Crowes’ accomplice Adam MacDougall power the engines here. After the energetic blues shuffle of the opening “Shore Power,” most of what follows recalls the sunnier, stonier side of the Grateful Dead. The blissedout instrumental “Humboldt Wind Chimes,” a bonus track released only with CD and vinyl copies, is the most adventurous song here, and Casal bites into his solo with an attitude regrettably missing from most of the album. ( Jed Nussbaum) Chris Robinson Brotherhood plays the Top Hat Tue., May 13. Doors at 8 PM, show at 9. $20/$18 advance.
Pert Near Sandstone, The Hardest Part of Leaving If you’re looking for experimental, push-the-limits newgrass, this isn’t it. If you’re looking for good, solid, stomp-your-feet bluegrass with a little bit of a contemporary twist and some impressive playing, Pert Near Sandstone’s newest album won’t disappoint. At first listen, The Hardest Part of Leaving sounds pretty much like every other bluegrass album: Largely up-tempo, lots of fast finger-picking and men singing harmony in reedy voices. And really, that’s what these musicians are all about—capitalizing on a sound that so many of us know and love, while adding a few flourishes to make it their own. One place where Pert Near differentiates itself is in
the lyrics, which explore traditional bluegrass subjects with a more thoughtful, contemporary feel. For example, the song “Old Man at the Mill” is not just a squaredance tune, but a meditation on complex relationships, fate and continuity: “The same old man, sittin’ at the mill, the mill turns around of its own free will. One hand in the hopper and the other in the sack, the ladies step forward while the gents fall back.” Pert Near produces what many others of its ilk doesn’t: Bluegrass worth carelessly dancing to, but that’s also worth taking the time to sit down and listen. (Melissa Mylchreest) Pert Near Sandstone plays the Top Hat Thu., May 8. Doors at 9:30 PM, show at 10. $10.
Girl Talk, Freeway and Waka Flocka Flame, “Tolerated” Hearing “Tolerated,” the collaboration single among Girl Talk, Freeway and Waka Flocka Flame, is like knocking a glass of water off your nightstand. At first you can’t believe it happened—you’re kind of indignant, even—but then you realize it was inevitable. The song itself is kind of negligible. Freeway complains that he thinks he has “tolerated all the hate I can stand/ flip flops and drugs, Afghanistan, marching band.” Waka Flocka appears and threatens to shoot us with a machine gun and/or hit us over the head with a lamppost while we are out walking the
streets. Freeway comes back, still disappointed in our ongoing hatred. Exeunt. I note this tepid affair because it closes the gap between EDM and southern rap. Girl Talk is a producer best known for copyright-bending mashups and extremely fun live shows. Waka is best known for dumb raps heard in parking lots of strip clubs, and Freeway is not known. All three artists make silly music for parties, and only racial paradigms have kept their genres apart. I like dance, southern rap and both kinds of trap, because I like fun. “Tolerated” is not such a wild ride, but it augurs fun to come. (Dan Brooks)
missoulanews.com • May 8–May 15, 2014 [21]