Wednesday, March 30, 2005
shake yourself lose from some daddy's leash
Crooked Fingers: "Twilight Creeps"
Crooked Fingers: "The River (live)"
Yes, I saw Crooked Fingers last night. And there was much jollity. Well, I don’t know if I’d call it jolly, but it was a grand time, for sure. Eric Bachmann’s been one of my top guys since I was sixteen, and his growth / maturation as a songwriter-musician type of guy has paralleled mine as a listener. And although Crooked Fingers couldn’t possibly mean as much to me as the Archers of Loaf did, their music is more fully satisfying, intellectually and emotionally, than almost anything by the Archers. Here’s a song from their fourth, and latest album, Dignity and Shame. Bachmann’s encroaching Springsteenism (as documented on this live version of “The River” has maybe hit its peak with “Twilight Creeps”, which could easily fit on Darkness on the Edge of Town (although the Boss would use a sax instead of a trumpet, of course). While some might believe lyrics like “why’s everybody always act so tough when all anybody wants is to find a friend” to be facile, I find them touching in their simplicity and honesty. Much like the music, Bachmann’s voice sounds lighter than it ever has. Even before the blissful falsetto flourish, there’s little of the gravel-pit we’ve come to expect. Compare this to how he sounded on the last Archers tour, as documented on the live cd Seconds Before the Accident (a copy of which I finally acquired via WZBC). That rock-vomiting, apocalyptic croak has been replaced by something almost sort of pretty. It’s been fairly amazing to watch Bachmann’s transformation these last few years, and although Dignity and Shame, as a whole, isn’t quite as good as prior Crooked Fingers albums, songs like “Twilight Creeps” leave me anxious to hear more.
Crooked Fingers: "Twilight Creeps"
Crooked Fingers: "The River (live)"
Yes, I saw Crooked Fingers last night. And there was much jollity. Well, I don’t know if I’d call it jolly, but it was a grand time, for sure. Eric Bachmann’s been one of my top guys since I was sixteen, and his growth / maturation as a songwriter-musician type of guy has paralleled mine as a listener. And although Crooked Fingers couldn’t possibly mean as much to me as the Archers of Loaf did, their music is more fully satisfying, intellectually and emotionally, than almost anything by the Archers. Here’s a song from their fourth, and latest album, Dignity and Shame. Bachmann’s encroaching Springsteenism (as documented on this live version of “The River” has maybe hit its peak with “Twilight Creeps”, which could easily fit on Darkness on the Edge of Town (although the Boss would use a sax instead of a trumpet, of course). While some might believe lyrics like “why’s everybody always act so tough when all anybody wants is to find a friend” to be facile, I find them touching in their simplicity and honesty. Much like the music, Bachmann’s voice sounds lighter than it ever has. Even before the blissful falsetto flourish, there’s little of the gravel-pit we’ve come to expect. Compare this to how he sounded on the last Archers tour, as documented on the live cd Seconds Before the Accident (a copy of which I finally acquired via WZBC). That rock-vomiting, apocalyptic croak has been replaced by something almost sort of pretty. It’s been fairly amazing to watch Bachmann’s transformation these last few years, and although Dignity and Shame, as a whole, isn’t quite as good as prior Crooked Fingers albums, songs like “Twilight Creeps” leave me anxious to hear more.
