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Date: 12.2.2002 Author: Jennifer Kelly Magazine: Splendid Given a record by a band called the Graves Brothers Deluxe, you might make a few assumptions. You might think, for one thing, that at least some band members were brothers, maybe by the name of Graves. You might also assume that they specialized in some kind of rootsy, finger-pickin?? genre. You might even speculate that this band was in some way superior to that non-deluxe, brand X version of the Graves Brothers. Bzzzzzzzz. You lose. It turns out no one in this band shares a surname, least of all Graves. And although frontman Stoo Odom, once of thin White rope, sings with a deep, dangerous bass tone that might remind you at times of Johnny Cash at others of Leonard Cohen, the band is about as far from country as you can get. They play in and uncategorizable vein that straddles cool jazz and hard stomp, rough poetics and gut-busting lurches from rock to experimental and back again. They did, however, get the Deluxe part right, because Gonna Happen to You is an excellent album that demands hard listening and repays it in spades. Like its predecessor band The Thin White Rope, The Graves Brothers Deluxe has a penchant for dark surreal lyrics and ominous, multilayered instrumentals. Odom, who also plays bass, is joined by Willy the Mailman on guitar and sax and Marco Villalobos on drums, with Nolan Cook (of Land of Thin Dimes) picking up additional guitar duties. The bass is often right up front in the mix, sounding evil and threatening. Joined with sax, as it is on many tracks, it creates a late-night jazz ambiance, as if the club were getting dark and smoky and almost all the paying customers had left. The album opens with ?¨Electrical?Æ, a simmering, jazz-influenced trek through psychotic territories. It begins with two long-held sax tones against a backdrop of crackling static, then a series of bass notes arch upward to introduce surprisingly lyrical vocals. I??m not sure what the words mean ?± something about ?¨electrical animals vanishing in the air?Æ ?± but the track is at once disturbing and beautiful. ?¨Right as Rain?Æ (which contains the title phrase, ?¨People happen to you like tornados / I??m gonna happen to you?Æ) is far more spartan, with discordant acoustic strumming and the sound of knife-sharpening serving as background for Odom??s infinitely deep vocal ?± the kind you could throw a nickel in and wait for minutes before it hit bottom. We turn sharply from this twisted, Tom Waitsian folk to the bleating sax and bouncy cadence of ?¨Deadbeat Heart?Æ, a tune whose cakewalking instrumentals mask bizarre verbiage. The subsequent track, ?¨Calling Goodbye?Æ, is perhaps the album??s darkest-toned track, its pulsing bass and scatter-shot snares driving into the murk. There??s an instrumental break, ?¨Did you tell Guillaume?Æ, just afterwards ?± a distorted waltz that reminds me of the circus music from Wings of Desire ?± then it??s on to the most interesting part of the album. ?¨Raw Stinking Beauty?Æ again puts the muttering bass up front, against a shifting, shimmering sax. Odom all but whispers the lyrics over a snaky, threatening beat, then breaks out into an echoing cry of passion. After the track fades out like a mirage, we get the Graves Brothers Deluxe??s cover of the Monks?? classic ?¨I Hate You?Æ, copying the tom-tom drums and simmering rage, but putting a smoother finish on. ?¨So Hot I??m Fried?Æ skitters over an atonal sax riff, moving fast like bare feet on melting pavement. Closer ?¨Backlog Love?Æ borrows a Latin beat, then erupts into searing chorus of straight rock guitar. Gonna Happen to You suprised me, not just the first time I heard it, but several listens afterward. If you like the unexpected, if you??re a fan of dark-toned originals like Tom Waits of Captain Beefheart, you should definitely give these ersatz siblings a spin. -- Jennifer Kelly |