Reviewed by Tom Stroh
It's always been the cool thing to do. Holier-than-thou musical elitists trash the DAVE MATTHEWS BAND, discount them as pap-pop fodder for the Abercrombie and Fitch set, right? Most respectable reviewers - the kind of people who dig through the "O" section of Tower Records cursing the fact that they can't find the latest Jim O'Rourke release - wrote them off as the evil-spawn twin of Hootie's Blowfish. Perhaps this is because they are commercially successful; or maybe it's because of the drunken frat boys who don the DMB merch. Yet, the truth is that, right beyond the inebriated Sigma Chi guys and the high school girls puking up their very first Heinekens, is likely the tightest, most eclectic group of musicians in music's mainstream. Watching them play is like watching a group of old jazz pros far above and beyond the standard fare that crowds the airwaves. On their new long-player, Busted Stuff, they may finally prove this to the rest of critic-dom. Never before have they captured their finer points as concisely in the studio as on their latest offering.
Nine of the eleven tracks that comprise Stuff were culled from the ashes of the (in)famous non-album The Lillywhite Sessions (or The Summer So Far) that many believe they should have released in lieu of the Glen Ballard-masterminded pop record Everyday. The Lillywhite Sessions tracks were only available in bootleg form after they were leaked on the web. The tracks, including long-time concert favorites "Bartender" and "Grace is Gone," were works-in-progress, unfinished pieces that were ultimately shelved. The recordings were murky and spare, almost lumbering, but oddly compelling in their melancholic musings. The songs' over-arching themes of mortality and loss lent one to believe that this could be Matthews' Blood on the Tracks. Ultimately the tunes were in sharp contrast to the sunny power-pop of the Everyday album.
Finally, in early 2002, the band dusted off the tracks and added two new ones for good measure to round out the disk. While some of the intimacy of The Lillywhite Sessions is lost in Stephen Harris's rich production, the emotion and sentiment still rings through in the full arrangements. While the band sounds more cohesive and enthusiastic than on the last album, the songs feature Matthews' deepest and most clever lyrics.
Busted Stuff's only difficult points are in the two new songs written for these sessions. In the context of the rest of the album, the first single, "Where Are You Going," appears to be the only blatant attempt at mainstream airplay - a conciliatory offering to the A&R reps at Bertellsmann. While not by any means an awful song, it fits rather nicely embedded in the album. Its droning chord progression borrows rather liberally from "Crash into Me" while the lyrics are aimed at the TRL contingent that swooned over "The Space Between." The second of the added tunes, "You Never Know" is an ambitiously sprawling piece of progressive-rock that works well if the listener is willing (or able) to follow its meandering flow. After repeated listens, the ride is well worth it as this song, if given the chance, could become as epic and loved as "#41" (an old tune from Crash that the band features prominently in concert). With these two songs, the band skates close to the edge with strange grace. Yet while they teeter on the brink they manage to bring it back on track with the song "Captain" as the album sinks back into its mellow groove.
Only the opening track, "Busted Stuff," and the first single, "Where Are You Going," exhibit the wide-eyed romanticism of
"Crash Into Me"-esque DMB fare. The rest of the tunes explore darker areas of the human psyche --
areas touched upon in past DMB songs, but never truly brought into the mainstream perception of the band. On Busted Stuff, the jazzy musicianship of the band and Matthews' existential ideals are far more focused. The songs are tighter and not as sprawling. While the hardcore Dave-heads may have lamented the surrender of the band's jamming tendency to Glen Ballard's tight production on Everyday, it looks to have paid off on this new album. The presence of pre-Everyday DMB musical stylings are focused by Ballard's influence.
Matthews has always had a penchant for darker lyrics that hide behind bright and sunny musical accompaniment (see "eat, drink and be merry/for tomorrow we die" from "Tripping Billies"). This style is apparent on Busted Stuff as well. At first glance, the track "Grace is Gone" appears to be an ode to a lost love. It has the feel of an old country number, as the protagonist discusses drowning his sorrows in "one more drink." Yet the song takes an interestingly fatal twist in the final verse when he sings, "I woke with you beside me/your cold hand lay in mine." It becomes chillingly clear that Grace didn't just move out of his house.
"Grey Street" has a charging beat and an urgency that is conveyed in both music and lyric. "Digging a Ditch" explores the holes we find ourselves in while "Big Eyed Fish" very cynically warns that while the grass is greener on the other side, getting there may cost your life. Finally, the album's climax and denouement flow through the last song, "Bartender," an epic lament on mortality and the loss of one's soul set to an urgently droning chord progression and violin bowing.
Those who have always derided the DAVE MATTHEWS BAND may still find the usual hang-ups on this album. Some of the things that people find so endearing about DMB, other people hate. Dave's idiosyncratic voice and violinist Boyd Tinsley's hoe-down fiddling are stamped throughout the tracks. But the entire band congeals rather sweetly in this melancholic collection of tunes. Carter Beauford is arguably the best drummer in rock music today while bassist Stephan Lessard is his worthy foil in the rhythm section. Tinsley and sax player LeRoi Moore add the color and styling that round out their unique sound and Matthews' acoustic guitar strumming is impressive as always. While Busted Stuff is hyped as the DMB going back to their roots, it may represent their greatest stylistic leap forward. Overall, it's a solid album that should not be overlooked as one of 2002's best releases.
Tom Stroh
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