Review: Fired, by Bright Men of Learning

I debated for a while making this post about KTRU, because it’s finally rolled around to the point where I have more to say. But Marshall’s band is celebrating the release of an LP this weekend, and I figured I owed them a review. Bros before cause. SLANT RHYME

Bright Men of Learning are an argument for why, contrary to conventional wisdom, stability and dependability aren’t incompatible with rock and roll. Marshall has led country/Americana/rock bands for more than a decade now, under the names Telluride, Chasmatic and Bright Men of Learning, with Jeff Senske on drums (and for a while, NAP’s own jdenkmire on bass, if I am correct). From the perspective of a listener and a watcher, these aren’t three different bands, but one project that has gradually changed over the years. In part the continuity is due to Marshall, who’s been the singer and songwriter for the entire time, and in part it’s due to the fact that music hasn’t changed much, and in fact there are songs that have persisted through different incarnations of the band.

The point here is that, despite this continuity, as the band has grown and changed, its skill level has improved dramatically. One of Fired’s most salient characteristics is how good it sounds. Dual lead guitarists Chris Kahlich and Ben Murphy deserve some of the credit, since, as James Love is wont to say, “tone is in the fingers,” but the careful, tasteful, intelligent recording style plays a major role. The band has done well in choosing to work with an engineer who knows how to vary microphones to achieve different effects, especially regarding distance; see the close-up “In The Dark” and the fuzzy, retro “Your Brave Mistake,” which almost sounds like a Strokes pastiche, for examples.

Another word about those lead guitarists. The magic of layered guitar is that it allows a rock band to increase the weight and volume of a song’s primary riff without changing the tone of the instruments. A great band can do this with just a bass and a guitar, but it’s easiest with two guitars; with three guitars, startling unison effects are possible. BMOL, with three guitars including Marshall, do take advantage of these possibilities, dropping into big, enveloping unison riffs on “Sidewalks” and “Left Behind.” But more importantly, when the three aren’t playing together, they separate beautifully, splintering into rhythm, accent, and lead without overwhelming Jonathan Sage’s bass or Marshall’s voice. On the whole, BMOL take advantage of the dramatic possibilities of a three-guitar lineup extremely well, better than nearly any band I’ve heard since Swarm of Angels- certainly better than a band like the Drive-By Truckers.

Speaking of Marshall’s voice- I have to be honest, I’ve never been a huge fan of the strained, slurred, raspy way that Marshall sings. But I’m starting to wonder if some of that isn’t just because I know what his speaking voice sounds like, and his singing by comparison doesn’t sound “right.” The actual singing on Fired makes more of a statement than I’ve heard from this band before. Marshall pays a lot of attention to the story that’s being told, not by the words he chooses, but by the motion and attitude of his voice. More than before with this band, I find it possible, on songs like “Blood Rain” and “One That Matters,” to imagine these songs being sung by a traditional rock frontman, not by my scene buddy Marshall.

Aside from the performances, I’m not sure I can make too many pronouncements on the songs themselves, save one, “Western Heart,” which I’ve been seeing the band perform since at least, I’d say, 2004. It’s a sketch of a man from a Western state (Wyoming?) who becomes a senator and then dies in a helicopter crash during a forest fire. The arrangement of the song, warm and flowing, with stirring guitar harmonies, is good. What I like about the song is the way it surveys an entire life, gathering in not just events and feelings, but values. But what I really need to say about “Western Heart” is that every time it starts, I hope that that helicopter won’t go down- a hope that can’t help but be disappointed, because the song is a view of a life from beyond death. To write that kind of perspective into a rock and roll song, and to have that perspective itself serve as the song’s hook, is brilliant. For that song to be a pleasure to listen to aesthetically is a remarkable achievement.  In my opinion, it’s the appearance of this song on this recording session that makes the whole ten-year run worth it.

Bands: stay together.