Brokeback - Brokeback And The Black Rock (Album Review)
Monday, 21 January 2013
Written by Ben Bland
Where is the black rock? All I see is a pylon and a petrol station in the middle of a desert. I don’t like being misled like this. I want to see Douglas McCombs standing on a massive dark rock the size of said petrol station, perhaps brandishing a Fender Jazzmaster or a sword. It could look like one of those so terrible they’re hilarious covers of Metal Hammer where they get Mikael Åkerfeldt (or someone equally metal and beardy) to smear themselves with fake blood and brandish a medieval weapon as if they are about to decapitate Justin Bieber.
Instead all we get is emptiness, stretching off into the horizon, and an almost timid reminder of civilisation in the form of said pylon and petrol station. Is this in some way a metaphorical representation of the music Brokeback have created on this release? 'Brokeback and the Black Rock' is, in many ways, a sparse record. It washes over the listener, surrounds it in a tempting aura rather than capturing it in a firm grip.
Musically it relies less on McCombs himself than Brokeback ever has before. The Tortoise man is now surrounded by what is effectively a ‘live’ band, something that lends 'Brokeback and the Black Rock' a loose jam-esque feel to many of its tracks. The songs seem to stretch out lazily, like a dog just before it is about to drift off to sleep. At times this is an advantage. Closer 'Colossus and Roads' and early album highlight 'Who is Bozo Texino?' carry themselves off in a leisurely, yet intriguing, sort of fashion, but at other points listeners could be forgiven for stretching out themselves and, like the dog, drifting off into peaceful slumber.
The problem with 'Brokeback and the Black Rock' as a whole is that it doesn’t really seem to accomplish what it wants to do. It wanders about a bit and sounds quite nice most of the time, but there isn’t a great deal of depth to it either. Loose records tend to go in one of two directions and sadly one of them is directionless. Whilst the ‘live’ element to this recording is no doubt a key part of its modus operandi, it really doesn’t carry itself off very convincingly for the most part here. Moments are appealing, but as a whole this is fairly disappointing fare. It sounds like McCombs tried to clamber atop the big black rock with his band of merry men, but didn’t quite reach the summit. That’s why there’s a petrol station on the cover. Obviously.
'Brokeback and the Black Rock' is out today, Monday 21st Janaury, via Thrill Jockey.
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Instead all we get is emptiness, stretching off into the horizon, and an almost timid reminder of civilisation in the form of said pylon and petrol station. Is this in some way a metaphorical representation of the music Brokeback have created on this release? 'Brokeback and the Black Rock' is, in many ways, a sparse record. It washes over the listener, surrounds it in a tempting aura rather than capturing it in a firm grip.
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