#36 - Father John Misty - Fear Fun

Father John Misty - Fear Fun 
Sub-Pop, 2012

Summer 2012. Jenny and I have just moved to Minneapolis and I’m working at the Half Price Books in the suburb of St. Louis Park. I’m in charge of pricing the CDs in the store’s basement, and considering that this was one of the chain’s Top 5 stores in regard to buying used books, DVDs, and CDs, there were a lot. My buddy David--who took over the post when I transferred over to the store in St. Paul--wrote an excellent essay about his attempt to collect 100 copies of 10,000 Maniacs MTV Unplugged live album because we saw so many copies of that damn album that he could have built a little clubhouse in that basement (check out David’s book One Million Maniacs). So, the scene is set. I’m sitting there working through hundreds of CDs a day. It’s the best job I ever had. It was an absolutely zen experience sitting down there, playing whatever CD looked interesting on the stereo we had for “testing” the discs to make sure they worked. I see the cover of Father John Misty’s debut and think: what the hell is this? I see that it’s on Sub-Pop which gives me the green light to pop it in the stereo. And then I listen to the album at least once a day for the next two months. Tillman’s voice hypnotized me. The bizarro, swaggering story of this guy out of his element in Los Angeles was captivating in every way. It’s out there, under the influence of psychedelics, and sure I Love You Honeybear and God’s Favorite Customer are more refined distillations of Father John Misty, but the rawness of this one, of this dude who had pigeonholed himself as this indie folk singer breaking off the shackles and getting weird, is pure magic. I feel like I should be irritated by Josh Tillman, but his albums keep ending up on my year end lists and I know better than to question this kind of stuff. “Only Son of a Ladiesman” is one of the absolute killers of the 2010s and if that song doesn’t do it for you I don’t know what to tell you.

Gut Feeling: Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear

Father John Misty – I Love You, Honeybear

Sub Pop, 2015

Josh Tillman’s first album as Father John Misty—2012’s Fear Fun—was a beautiful and weird examination of ego and personal mythology set in a Hollywood of drugs and debauchery delivered with pure swagger. It was my favorite record that year, and its followup, I Love You, Honeybear, is poised to be my favorite record of 2015. I know it’s early, but goddamn, Misty gone an done it again!

I Love You, Honeybear is a disarmingly romantic record. Compared to the wall-to-wall weirdness and self-indulgence of Fear Fun, it’s a joy hearing a record of songs about how much Tillman loves his wife. There’s no simpering sentiments or any of that mushy stuff, but there are plenty of moments that hit you right in the heart. Right down to the guts. It’s a record about not just finding someone to watch the world burn with, but also finding someone who makes you understand that love is a transformative process two people undergo, and openly willing to make that transformation.

It’s a photorealistic portrait of true love. There are still a lot of drugs and weird sex involved, but this time around, Misty has someone to share in the experience. On “Chateau Lobby (in C for Two Virgins)” Tillman belts out “First time you let me stay the night despite your own rules/ You took off early to go cheat your way through film school/ You left a note in your perfect script/ Stay as long as you want/ And I haven’t left your bed since” before a mariachi band punctuates the sentiment with big, brassy horns.

Sweetness, sexiness, and swagger blur into one big, unnamable emotion just like the album’s two central characters. The emotions are so large and earnest, I’ll probably shed an actual tear of Josh and Emma Tillman ever divorce. Honestly, all I want from music is honesty and when honesty is spilled out so openly as it is on Honeybear, I tend to obsess. Or maybe I’m just happy that someone finally made a record for my sect: Married Dudes Who Deeply Love Their Wives. I’ve always been an enormous fan of break up albums, but goddamn is it refreshing to hear such an artful examination of getting together and staying that way. 

"Chateau Lobby #4 (in C for Two Virgins)" - Wait for that punctuating mariachi solo and tell me you're not sold!