VAL EMMICH - Everything Is Fine The Way It Is (Self-released)
Although recorded in his Jersey City apartment over the course of a weekend, Everything Is Fine the Way It Is sounds as rich and fully-realized as anything Val Emmich has done in a studio, but with added immediacy and intimacy.
Emmich recorded with a quartet - Dave Bassiri on guitars and bass, Jeremy Gelade on bass and backing vocals, with drum duties split between Josh Bicknell and Scott Garapolo - with guest musicians and vocalists adding parts later. In typical Val Emmich fashion, the album’s fairly (but not entirely) morose, yet with an underlying optimism that’s at the heart of his songwriting. Twenty-five years into a prolific and praiseworthy career, the man knows what he’s doing. His lyrics unfurl like a philosophical conversation with an old friend, and the melodies - both piano and guitar-based sturdy Americana - add comfort and drama in equal measure.
The title, Emmich says, is both sincere and sarcastic: “That’s exactly who I am: half believer, half cynic. Aspirationally grateful for the blessings I’ve received and accepting of the messiness of existence, but also dismayed, horrified and angry that this is the best we can do.”
“All of It Ends” sets the tone for the album, calmly reaffirming that everything - from our most sublime pleasures to thorniest challenges - will eventually pass. “Changing Man” fittingly follows; if things are always changing, we need to be changing too. And then the title track, which turns out to be a love song. Everything is fine the way it is, Emmich counsels; “you don’t have to go to get to somewhere, you don’t have to speak to talk to me, you don’t have to change to make things different, you just have to want to be with me.” The melody flows, a graceful synth swirls behind twangy guitars, and a peaceful grace descends. A truly beautiful track.
There’s plenty more. “Trying Too Hard” offers self-help therapy to a gently loping melody until an angelic chorus lifts the track to something more. “Upright & Breathing” stands out for its galloping tempo and dramatic lyrics, with Emmich wondering how he finds himself sleepwalking through life. “I was a zombie but there’s no apocalypse, the world is normal but it’s like I don’t exist,” he laments, then remembers how it used to be: “I was upright and breathing, awestruck and beaming, stupid and scheming, damn I miss that feeling.” This isn’t about nostalgia, but about trying to find a part of ourselves that we’ve lost. Fill in the reasons, we’ve all got plenty.
”Good Man” pulls off a punchline in a track that otherwise sulks in misery; “I want to be a good, good man,” Emmich says, “I still haven’t met one yet.” No matter how old we get or what we accomplish, we all feel like a lost kid sometimes, looking for a hero, and when we don’t find one, we get angry.
In a better world, the honky tonk swing of the snarky “Straight Talker” would be a hit on country radio; “Don’t Get Married” doubles down on that conceit, a funny song about a groom rushing headlong into matrimony while fearing that he’s making the biggest mistake of his life. Blake Shelton, call your service. “Settle Down Some” finds a father reassuring his child that - bringing us full circle - everything will be okay, even when it seems otherwise. Stay strong, Emmich sings.
Seen that way, closer “Too Much, Not Enough” feels like a post-script, a lullabye, a benediction. This is the world we have to live in: too much, not enough, but take heart. Everything is fine the way it is.
Various Artists - JEM CELEBRATES BOB DYLAN (Jem Records)
This is the 7th tribute compilation from Jem Records’ roster, and you almost have to wonder why it wasn’t the first. Dylan’s music has always lent itself to cover versions, and on his current tour, Dylan is still reimagining his older songs with new melodies and arrangements.
Dylan’s catalog spans seven decades, from the early Sixties through 2023’s Shadow Kingdom, but Jem Celebrates Bob Dylan leans heavily on the early electric albums, from Bringing It All Back Home through The Basement Tapes, with a couple of outliers. For the most part, these artists play Dylan in their own style and, being Jem Records, that means catchy power-pop and garage-y indie rock.
The Jem approach can be hit or miss. The folk-rock jangle of the venerable Anderson Council perfectly suits “Queen Jane Approximately” and the ageless Paul Collins treats “Stuck Inside of Mobile (With the Memphis Blues Again”) as a living, breathing entity, not just a museum piece, infusing the sinewy wordplay with genuine emotion. The same goes for the Midnight Caller's dramatic interpretation of “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue.” The Half Cubes nail the malleable “Mighty Quinn,” and the harmony-rich Grip Weeds illuminate “This Wheel’s On Fire.”
The Cynz dip into the underappreciated Infidels for a fun take on “Neighborhood Bully,” and Glen Burtnik’s Weeklings (a Beatles tribute band) do a goofy but enjoyable take on “Rainy Day Women #12 and #35,” throwing in a verse of “Highway 61 Revisited” for kicks. The blues has always been an integral part of Dylan’s oeuvre and that’s captured in an excellent renditions of “Meet Me In The Morning” by Midnight Callers, commendable because many of these versions strip the blues from songs for a poppier feel.
The downside? The Jive lumber through Dylan’s born-again period with a clunky “Ain’t Gonna Go To Hell For Anybody,” Airport 77 turn “It Ain’t Me, Babe” into bubblegum cheese, while the High Frequencies attack “Subterranean Homesick Blues” with commendable verbal agility but all the lasting impact of a bar-band encore. As for Nick Piunti’s perfectly serviceable “Mr. Tambourine Man,” it’s hard not to wonder whether the planet really needed one more lovingly varnished relic of that particular chestnut.
Overall, though, Jem Celebrates Dylan succeeds in what it sets out to do, wrapping classic works by one of our greatest songwriters in modern pop-rock arrangements. It’s a fun listen and a worth addition to a catalog that includes Jem tributes to John Lennon, Brian Wilson, Jagger/Richards, and David Bowie.
THE TREMOLO BEER GUT - Ask Not What The Tremolo Beer Gut Can Do For You (Self-released)
Copenhagen’s Tremolo Beer Gut play reverb-drenched surf rock instrumentals blended with spaghetti western soundtrack vibes along with bits and bobs of punk, ska, and jazz. The music tends toward the atmospheric - “Bad Juju” feels spooky, “Monkey Drums & Tiki Drinks” conjures a jungle safari - but also confusing (“Phnom Penh” doesn’t sound remotely Vietnamese.) I can totally picture this as a soundtrack, and if I still did my podcast, I’d use it for interstitial music. But as an album, it’s background music at best, all mood and no substance. Your mileage may vary, but instrumentals need to be a little livelier to hold my attention.
ROGER CLARK MILLER - “I Live In A Forest” (Don Giovanni)
Mission of Burma’s Roger Miller will be releasing a solo album on Don Giovanni in September. The track offers a singer/songwriter vibe while meditating on life and nature, inside a noisy hum of guitars and loops. “I live in a forest and a forest lives inside me. Shimmer shammer shim shong.” Enjoy.
No posts
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.