Topic: jesu / sun kil moon [the hamfist review]

hamfist !0Ynig1RSDc started this discussion 10 years ago #49,388

Jesu's instrumentation is par for the course, but Mark Kozelek's vocals don't really mix too well with it. Not to mention the lyrics are mostly mediocre. I mean, I'm not totally opposed to Kozelek's new take on his lyrics. I thought Benji was pretty good (maybe not as good as Admiral Fell Promises but a definite step-up from Among the Leaves) and at the time his folksy sing-talking was pretty novel. But he's getting less poetic and more like he's just reading from his diary. A cliche observation perhaps, but it's true. It's cool if he's found his groove, but for the most part it feels lazy and uninspired. Lines such as "We made love this morning and she went to Best Buy and Bed Bath and Beyond" undermine the more subtle moments on the album. The first three songs are strong (if kind of samey), but then Last Night I Rocked the Room Like Elvis... is a strange synthy turn from the heavily distorted guitar-oriented sound. Fragile is, well, a fragile folk tune, and Father's Day is dreamy and sounds like it could have been on one of Mark previous collaborations, Perils from the Sea. Exodus, a tribute to Nick Cave's recently deceased son, is probably the most touching moment on the album. But mostly Jesu/Sun Kil Moon sounds like a continuation of Universal Themes, which sounded like a less-interesting more rock-oriented Benji. A decent record and an interesting step in both musicians careers, but it will most likely be forgotten.

Anonymous B joined in and replied with this 10 years ago, 4 minutes later[^] [v] #642,283

Hamfist shtick:dr

Minichan