Son Volt and politics … imperfect together
- Son Volt
- Rock and roll and politics make for strange bedfellows in Louisiana quartet's latest.
Never let it be said that being a whore is always a bad thing.
Take rock and roll for instance. When straddling such topics as teen angst, drugs, boredom and heartache – separately, or even better, all at once – she can be one saucy little vixen capable of hours of enjoyment.
But throw politics in between the sheets and she becomes nothing more than a whiny and disappointing trick that doesn’t know when to shut up.
Case in point: Son Volt’s latest release, Okemah and the Melody of Riot.
More than I care to admit, I really wanted to like this CD. Something about the first single, “Atmosphere,” and its ethereally simple musical textures had me hooked. Slow and brooding with a melancholy twinge, the song’s intro intoxicates quicker than a potent cognac, suddenly changes tempo then hits you with an explosion of full-on country alt-rock goodness.
So, too, with “Chaos Streams.” And “Bandages and Scars.” And “Jet Pilot.” All gorgeously arranged instrumentations that seduce like heroin, the sound reverberating off of Okemah is purely addictive.
The lyrics, however, well that’s another story.
Once I actually sat down and cocked a critical ear toward the album, the intent of the Louisiana-based band became as clear as a left-wing radical’s mantra: War is bad, President Bush is an asshole.
On “Endless War”:
“When morning brings news of wasted life/When video brings footage of children dying/No moral face to the endless war”
On “Atmosphere”:
“Getting that old time feeling again/Madmen on both sides of the fence”
On “6 String Belief”
“The declaration framer states revolution sets the course straight/It was necessary then and it’s necessary now/Corruption in the system a grass roots insurrection/Will bring them down will bring them down”
And on and on it goes. A scathing political message cleverly delivered inside 30 minutes of southern bubble-gum pop, Okemah is the type of record that can alienate just as quickly as it can enchant. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course – this type of media has been around as long as political injustice – but it’s not really rock and roll. Not in the traditional sense, anyway. More like a rally call for angry Democrats wrapped inside a folk album.
Lead singer and chief songwriter Jay Farrar has made it extremely difficult for fans that don’t agree with his message to enjoy the music as a whole. Like Bruce Springsteen’s The Rising, it sounds great but is divisive. And if there’s anything I’ve learned about true rock and roll through the years is its ability to unify – we may not always like the sound, but we can always relate to its message.
Craggy old headbanger Vincent Furnier, a.k.a. Alice Cooper, once said that “… rock is the antithesis of politics,” and that when he was a kid and his parents started waxing prophetic about the subject, he’d “run to my room and put on the Rolling Stones as loud as I could. Rock should never be in bed with politics.”
Wise old sage, that Mr. Cooper.
Unfortunately for Son Volt, this is not advice they choose to heed and the result is one of the most uneven efforts I’ve ever listened to. Thanks in part to the tremendously catchy melodies and harmonies of the music, I’ve never been more ambivalent about an album in all my life, a testament to the underlying current pervading it. It’s not that I disagree with the message – or even agree – but just find it exceedingly difficult to digest when trying to relax and unwind to it.
After all, isn’t that what rock and roll is all about, the enjoyment? Not if Son Volt has anything to say about it, apparently.
November 26th, 2005 at 5:27 pm
jay farrar was singing about the “trickle down theory leaving all these pockets empty” and “they want us kindler gentler at their feet” back in the uncle tupelo days. it’s not like you don’t know what you are getting with one of his records.
if rock and roll is only about enjoyment, it’s because you and alice cooper have decided so. as someone who happens to agree with the message, for me it takes a good record and makes it great (in this case). and since it seems to be prevalent from green day to bruuuce to steve earle to the dixie chicks, maybe it is the mainstream of rock and roll? not top 40 of course, i mean even britney thinks we should just trust the president in whatever he wants to do.
i can roll off 10 to 20 songs in the last year bashing gDub, but i can’t think of one in favor (maybe toby keith but he considers himself a conservative democrat). maybe there is a reason for that???
November 27th, 2005 at 4:13 pm
yeah, not sure Alice Cooper was the best guy to reference there — he’s a fucking golfer who wears makeup for his stage act. he belongs in Vegas.
The 60’s and 70’s were loaded with impactful political acts, but they have no doubt fallen off. I think that’s due in large part to them being defused and demonized by conservatives and the many outlets they control.
I think acts need to more creative and less polite in their protests though. Or maybe we need to look elsewhere for inspiration, like Comedy Central shows.