Gut Feeling: Fred Thomas - All Are Saved

Fred Thomas – All Are Saved

Polyvinyl, 2015

“Who is this guy?” I thought to myself whilst staring at the cover of Fred Thomas’ latest solo effort. “Is he from Brooklyn?” He looked like he might be from Brooklyn, which immediately brought on the reservations and mistrust I usually harbor for New York City bands. When I found out Thomas was from Michigan, all those reservations melted away. When I then found out he was the frontman for the excellent 00s indie pop group Saturday Looks Got To Me, I was sold. And then I listened to the record. This is what it’s like for me these days. There’s a vetting process based on ridiculous information, misconceptions, and it’s basically all about gut feeling and the strength of a band’s cover art.

One listen through it’s clear that you’ve just heard a man’s soul smeared across 11 tracks. Thomas is an excellent tunesmith (SLGTM’s 2003 hazy pop masterpiece All Your Summer Songs was an immediate staple when I found it in 2004), and while many of these songs are stuck in my head, they’re not there for the typical hooky pop reasons. They’re stuck there because they’re haunting. The images Thomas conjures in his lyric sheet are beautiful, rotten, and poetic. The songs themselves are a kitchen sink’s worth of quickly hammered out guitar chords, glaring electronics, latent pop flourishes (“Cops Don’t Care Pt II” is the earwormiest of the bunch, sporting the terrific sing-a-long refrain “They don’t give a fuck/ They don’t give a fuck about us”), and impassioned spoken word delivery.

All Are Saved is disarming. That’s the best I can do for it. It’s a bundle of raw feels that will give you the feels if you stick around and let it, which I recommend, because getting the raw feels is one of those things that makes you feel like you’re not totally alone in this world. Fred Thomas has released like 50 (fact check: 8) solo records but this is the first one to garner anything resembling attention. I am now wildly curious whether those albums are weirdo dabblings and it took him 8 records to figure out how to best sling his poetic alt-folk-pop or if he’s been churning out solo songwriting wizardry for the last 12 years behind everyone’s backs. I guess there’s only one way to find out, and by the time I work my way through that massive backlog hopefully Thomas will have unleashed another masterful record to the masses.

Check out that aforementioned excellent lyrics sheet here. 

"Cops Don't Care Pt. 2" - This is the one that'll hook you. 

"Bad Blood" - This is the one currently occupying the top spot of my "Favorite Songs of 2015" list. An absolute gut check. Beautiful writing, passionate music making, holy shit. 

The Like Young - The Timid EP

The Like Young – The Timid EP

Polyvinyl, 2005

Acquired: Love Garden, Used, 2015

Price: $1

I know the Like Young best from a terrific little EP they released in the mid-00s called Six at Midnight. They covered doo wop and soul songs from the 50s and 60s and by golly if it wasn’t fantastic! Especially then, during my deep twee years. I don’t remember if I ever heard any of their original music, but my affinity for that covers EP was enough to take a flier on this 7”. It’s some wonderful, synth-assisted indie pop with dual boy/girl vocals with a sound reminiscent of the pure, unapologetic pop of Ozma or Wolfie.  AND DAMNIT IF THE LIKE YOUNG ISN’T COMPRISED OF FORMER MEMBERS OF WOLFIE!! I think I knew that, somewhere deep in the swamp of my music knowledge. Wolfie was one of my favorite indie pop bands back in the day and I loved them for the fierceness they brought to a genre often bogged down by overbearing preciousness. The Like Young harness that same fiery energy and while their music is sweet and a little adorable, there’s also a little edge. Not a lot of edge, but a little to offset the tweeness. Like many married couple bands, the Like Young dissolved along with Amanda and Joe Ziemba’s marriage, which is a bummer because man they made some sweet, sweet music together. 

"I've Been Used"

American Football - American Football

American Football – American Football

Polyvinyl, 1999 (2014 Reissue, Marbled Red Vinyl)

Acquired: Half Price Books, Used, 2014

Price: $7.50

 

Man, talk about records I absolutely hated the first time I heard them. For a number of reasons, it was never the right time for American Football. The album popped up on my radar in maybe 2005 or 2006 and I thought it was a huge snore! I think it was the little punk rocker living inside of me, even though by that point I had mostly become a convert to the church of indie rock. There wasn’t enough energy! NOTHING WAS HAPPENING! Whatever. You know what other album I hated the first, second, and third time I tried listening to it? Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. And that’s one of my favorite records of all time. So, if I’ve learned anything, it’s not to trust my taste. Some things should be dismissed outright, but something universally beloved by people who would know usually deserves a second, third, and fourth chance before being written off completely. Because that wouldn’t be fair to anyone.

It took five listens before American Football clicked. I don’t know what happened. One day I dug up the MP3s from an old hard drive and it sounded so, so, so fucking good. In that moment I was obsessed. You know what other great album I hated the first time I heard it? Slint’s Spiderland. And that’s one of my favorite records of all time! But I think that record really broadened my palate in an earth-shattering way. It made me slow down. Caused me to look at the insane genius in things that were brooding, slow-moving, and pensive. When I fell in love with Spiderland, I went on a bender of post rock, math rock, and every other kind of rock associated with that album. And I think that’s why American football makes sense.

Still, though, I can’t understand how you could like the first Death Cab for Cutie record and not think American Football’s eponymous debut was better. There’s just a tremendous amount of craftsmanship here. They operate as an emo band with a math rock band’s heart. One of my favorite tracks, “For Sure,” is one of the quietest songs on an album of quiet songs. A beautiful, cyclical riff that plays with a single forlorn horn and by the time the vocals come in, I feel hypnotized. As complex as these songs are, I almost expect them to be louder. They arrangements are bursting with energy, and yet this is an album perfectly suited for a midnight drive on an empty highway.

Like a highway, there are long stretches where nothing happens and you just stare out the window and look at the beautiful scenery. I’m not saying the instrumental that closes the A-Side—“You Know I Should Be Leaving Soon”—is nothing, but it feels like a pleasant breather. A moment for reflection before the second half of the album ramps the emotions back up. As prolific as Mike Kinsella is, American Football is his only release that is absolutely undeniable. His singer-songwriter act Owen is mighty good, and he’s not afraid to push boundaries with Joan of Arc, it’s just that this album is the best blend of inventive indie rock, great songwriting (“Not to be overly dramatic/ I just think it’s best, because you can’t miss what you forget/ So let’s just pretend everything and anything between you and me was never meant”), and complete tonal dominance. It’s baffling that this is the work of a trio. It feels like this band should have at least six members.

This new reissue from Polyvinyl is deluxe as hell. In addition to being pressed on lovely marbled red vinyl, the packaging includes a ton of mood-matching photography and a large booklet that explains all of the tunings, time signatures, and other technical stuff that makes these songs so compelling. The second disc is packed with live tracks and vocal-less demos, some of which were never released in any shape or form (“But the Regrets are Killing Me,” “The 7’s,” and a slew of untitled tracks). Guitarist Steve Holmes’ illuminating liner notes (From the notes for “For Sure”: “Mike had a bad cold the week we recorded the album and this was the first track we attempted vocals on. Mike’s whispery take on this track was probably in part a nod to Elliott Smith, but mostly based on the fact that he couldn’t sing in his normal voice with the sore throat and congestion) coupled with the meandering demos (I should also just tack on a note that Steve Lamos’ jazzy drumming and trumpet (drumpet?) makes up the backbone of this record and his inventiveness really gets to shine on the demos and live takes) are a fascinating glimpse into the world of this short-lived band. 

"Never Meant"

"For Sure"

Joan of Arc - "Meaningful Work" 7"

Joan of Arc – “Meaningful Work” 7”

Polyvinyl, 2010

Acquired: Crossroads Music, Used, 2013

Price: $2

 

Some days I feel like Joan of Arc’s sounding like white noise to my ears is to be blamed on my never having listened to Cap’n Jazz. At one point in the dorms I had Analphabetapolothology on my hard drive but it has since vanished and I’ve been to lazy to reacquire the album. Sometimes I feel like that might make Joan of Arc click. It might also be that it’s too weird for my tastes. I love the 90s emo guitars that still lurk on this late Joan of Arc 7” but their noted avant gardiness brings on the washout. I zone out. Maybe Tim Kinsella just releases so many albums that his discography becomes too daunting to keep up with. That said, after listening to this 7” a few times I’m kind of into it. While I’m more partial to Tim’s brother (and Cap’n Jazz and occasional Joan of Arc bandmate) Mike’s bands American Football (for the smooth, late night true blue emo that both Kinsella’s are responsible for propagating in the face of a genre overrun by artists who think emo is all about screaming infidelities and so on etcetera) and Owen (for the broken, quavering prettiness of Mike Kinsella’s sadness), that’s mostly because those two bands are a lot easier to swallow than Joan of Arc. Both “Meaningful Work” and “The Thing of Things” are packed with odd time signatures, angular guitars, and weird lyrics that make the tracks something to stand back and stare at hand-on-chin rather than internalizing them on an emotional level.

"Meaningful Work"

Icy Demons/Pit Er Pat - Split 7"

Icy Demons/ Pit Er Pat – Split 7”

Polyvinyl, 2005

Acquired: Love Garden, Used, 2008

Price: $.50

 

7”s seems sort of obsolete these days. What’s the point of paying $4 for two tracks when you can just buy the whole album for $15 (unless the songs on the 7” are exclusive, but even then it seems fiscally no thanks). But fifty cents or a dollar? Sign me up. When you can dig through the bargain bin at Love Garden and pick out four or five singles for four or five bucks (or less) based on a cool cover design or great band names, it restores some of the fun back to being a music consumer. The Internet helps to make most of your decisions for you and supplies you with ample information and MP3s of a band so you can pretty much eliminate any sense of risk. Instead of hearing the single and buying the album, you hear the single and buy the MP3 on iTunes for a buck fifty. I actually really like that model, but then again, I bought so many shitty CDs in the 90s because they had one song I liked. Thanks to the Internet, I never have to drop $15 on an album that may or may not let me down. Albums I buy (unless they’re $3 at work and it’s like why not) are thoroughly vetted before being added to my collection. And cheap 7”s is how I keep my music nerd flame lit. Despite having picked up this 7” five years ago, this is the first time I have actually listened to it. 2007-2009 was a great period for acquiring myriad pieces of cheap vinyl, and this whole blog exists to rectify the fact that I had hardly listened to any of the stuff on which I was dropping small amounts of dough. Both bands sound like that bread and butter “art rock” Polyvinyl was churning out at an alarming clip in the mid 00s. Icy Demons synthesized keyboards sound straight outta Deerhoof and even though the band is from Chicago, for some reason the singer sounds like he is singing in Japanese. It’s your usual spastic art pop with guitars that jut out and interesting drum patterns. It’s actually a nostalgic sound for me, something that takes me back to my early college years when bands like this played at the Jackpot Saloon all the damn time. Pit Er Pat also have a lot of that Deerhoof-y art rock thing going on. Mostly it's the way the synthesizers are tuned (tuned? That can't be right). Really, it wasn't just Deerhoof. This whole sound got pretty generic in the fallout of dance punk in the mid to late 00s, but at least it was weird and experimented with weird arrangements. Seems like these days you just pluck four random 20 year olds off the street in Brooklyn, give'em tight pants and drug problems and you've got a breakout hit on your hands. That was me doing my best Abe Simpson, expressing my outright fear and disappointment with the future I've aged into.