CD Review

Are lyrics written too fast these days? Kurt Cobain admitted to writing lyrics for Nevermind 15 minutes before he recorded some of the tracks and so many other songs contain the most absurd lyrics that its hard to imagine them as anything more than late night coffee shop napkin scraps. Somewhat missing in today’s music arena is the strong song accompanied by even stronger lyrics. Thankfully, John Vanderslice is putting out a new album each year and even more thankfully, he’s a hell of a storyteller.

On Pixel Revolt, Vanderslice graciously straddles the bridge between songwriter and storyteller (there is a bridge, trust me), taking a J.D. Salinger meets Conor Oberst approach and layering his lyrics with dusky cellos, lightly strummed guitars, and floating beats.

Topic-hopping from mujahidin barricades to lost bunnies and open cages, Vanderslice handles each topic with the sincerity of a dedicated narrator. "Plymouth Rock" explores a soldier’s internal wondering as to just why he’s at war. A more than direct chorus of ‘I lost the reason / I lost the reason I’m here’ clearly outlines Vanderslice stance on war. And it doesn’t take a genius to understand what ‘so the second plane hit at 9:02 / I saw it live on a hotel tv’ means on "Exodus Damage."

While consistent throughout, there is one point where the album does dip a little. "Angela," with its rather absurd lyrics about losing a girl’s bunny somehow interrupts the overall flow of the album and "Dead Slate Pacific" does little to help. However, a patient listener is more than rewarded with the album’s closer.

‘We all have to fall / But why so fast and why so far?’ Vanderslice asks on the album’s last track, "CRC7173, affectionately." Easily a stand out track on the album and perhaps a perfect show closer if seen live, this song cements Vanderslice’s spot in many a top 10 list by the year’s end. With 5 albums in as many years, Vanderslice is proving to be not only one of music’s strongest songwriters, but also one of the most fruitful.