April 5–12, 2001

disc quicks| rock/pop

Red House Painters/Mark Kozelek

Old Ramon/What’s Next To The Moon

(Sub Pop)/(Badman Recordings)

There’s something very intimate and pure about listening to the Red House Painters. It’s as if we, unobtrusively and respectfully, get to experience the band guide singer/songwriter Mark Kozelek through inner journeys that reveal sweet vulnerabilities. On "Wop-A-Din-Din" the music coaxes Kozelek into exploring his deep affection for his cat, "when we lock eyes there’s so much love I want to cry." On "Cruiser" he travels upon a romantic memory, "drive me down Sunset Blvd. I’m feeling nice in your white car, playing Hanoi Rocks and Social D." The band vamps at the crossroads of folk, blues and country, gently easing Kozelek and his acoustic along with wind chime-sounding electric guitars, splashy drums and ambient basslines that you feel vibrating rather than hear as a summation of notes. It took the band four years to wrestle Old Ramon from the red tape binding it in the wake of 1998’s major label merger. The album was written right after Songs For A Blue Guitar (Island, 1996), which many view as the band’s strongest release, and keeps with that record’s sleepy-eyed flow. In the time between, Mark Kozelek launched a solo career, beginning with Rock N’ Roll Singer (Badman, 2000). What’s Next To The Moon, his sophomore outing, is a collection of ten Bon Scott-era AC/DC cover tunes — Kozelek cozying up with his trusty acoustic belting out the hesher standards of his teens. There is a Nebraska-era Bruce Springsteen sense of grainy realism to the record — coming-of-age tales, making a big fuss in a small town with long hair and a rock ’n’ roll streak. Under the scrutiny of the singer/songwriter setup, you really get a sense of the blues aspect, the longing of AC/DC lyrics and, unfortunately, the shoddiness of their compositions.

—Lorne Behrman