Quasi - When the Going Gets Dark Review
Posted by Brian Berry on 03.21.2006
The White Stripes aren't the only divorcees makin' guitar rock records, you know?
Quasi- When the Going Gets Dark (Touch & Go Records)
Released March 21, 2006
Recommended if you dig: Elliott Smith, Flaming Lips, Built To Spill, George Harrison
File Under: Indie Rock, Indie Pop, Psych-Pop
Background
Quasi are the Portland, Oregon based ex-husband and wife team of Sam Coomes (lead vocals, guitars, piano) and Sleater-Kinney drummer Janet Weiss (backing vocals, drums). Coomes and Weiss first played together in the trio Motorgoat during the early nineties. In 1993, they formed Quasi, self-recording on cassette tapes before getting picked up by Up Records (former home to Modest Mouse, Built To Spill). Before the turn of the century, Quasi released three albums for Up. They toured worldwide, at one point serving as the backing back for their friend Elliott Smith. In 2001, they released their first album for Touch & Go Records. While their popularity has continued to grow since its inception Quasi remains adamant about keeping their music independent, free from corporate intervention. When the Going Gets Dark is their third album for Touch & Go and their seventh full-length.
The Album When the Going Gets Dark is an experimental indie-pop album, whose lyrics reflect the tumultuous socio-political landscape of our times. While other bands shove politics down the listener's throat, Quasi is never preachy about their liberal stance. They let their sentiments seep in through implied lyricism, distressed vocals, and chaotic instrumentation. The result is something intense and unruly yet melodic. Upon first listen a few bands come to mind when listening to When the Going Gets Dark: The Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev, or even late 60s-era Beatles. Their seventh album finds Quasi playing much looser, often freaking out with explosions of psychedelia. As touched upon by the more politically charged 2003 album Hot Shit, this is a much heavier Quasi than in the past.
With the Rocksichord still in storage, Sam Coomes employs his piano once again with ex-wife Janet Weiss pounding the skins. You can feel Coomes shooting straight from the soul as he violently accosts the piano on this eleven track set. The real treat here, however, is Coomes' guitar work. On the Zeppelin-lite track, ‘Poverty Sucks', we get a satisfying helping of Eastern guitar. His mildly falsetto voice, similar in tone to Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips, tells the listener to hold onto their integrity and "Never give up/never give in/ poverty sucks/ but it ain't no sin/Then a dream you never knew comes true." This type of optimistic sentiment plays out in most of the songs here, despite an overall tone of dark moodiness.
The opening tune is ‘Alice the Goon,' a song that opens with an open palate of crashing guitar, piano, and drums. The song sounds like an outtake from Magical Mystery Tour equipped with surrealistic imagery such as the opening lyrics: "Electric eel/swimming the seas of the unreal/Trying to land a deal/for you to reinvent the wheel." The hard rocking continues through ‘The Rhino' before finally come up for air with the down tempo third track, ‘When the Going Gets Dark.' The title track is one of two songs co-written by Coomes and Weiss (all others are written by Coomes) and the first to feature the understated vocals of Weiss. Her voice provides a calming agent to Coomes' stressed pleading for some sanity in world. Lyrics like ‘Why buy a trip across the ocean/when you could already be the sea?' will hopefully cause some listeners to rethink their value system and the importance of acknowledging what you have versus what you have not.
The variation on these tunes is impressive, albeit with fluctuating levels of success. ‘I Don't Know You Anymore' wouldn't be out of place on one of Elliott Smith's last couple albums. Musically and lyrically it's a strong fit ("I feel your eyes on me/what does that prove?/and I walk right past your door/I don't know you anymore"). This is one of the better songs on the album. On the other hand, ‘Peace and Love' sounds like a plea for peace, neo-flower power song. John Lennon's ‘Give Peace a Chance' instantly comes to mind when listening to that track. It's easily the weakest link on the album. ‘Beyond the Sky' is a mark on Mercury Rev dream-pop with its lush, ethereal soundscapes. It's the sixth track, thus splitting the album between its angered first half and possible solutions offered on the latter portion.
This album relies on the raw sound that made early 70s FM radio so good and it works. Mixer Dave Fridmann did a great job making this aesthetic show, as he did last year with Sleater-Kinney's The Woods. When the Going Gets Dark may be a challenging listen due to the intense sounds and imagery but once it settles into your consciousness, you'll realize it's a powerful record full of beautiful intensity.
The 411: This is an impressive modern psych-pop record that jams out, with heavy licks throughout. Coomes writes challenging lyrics and lush, experimental melodies. Weiss is an inventive drummer who isn't just 'keeping a beat.' Recommended.
