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It took almost a week of listening to Songs in A&E to feel comfortable reviewing it. There is a presence apparent in Jason Pierce's delivery that made this album feel too meaningful to absorb completely on the first indulged listens. After 6 or 7 spins, I was happy to learn that the name of the group does not mislead the listener whatsoever. Spiritualized delivers a sound seemingly larger than themselves, transcending deep into a spiritual state that channels you through every end of the emotional spectrum: love and hate, joy and sadness...all channeling Pierce's characters.After a short, unnecessary intro track straight from "Fantasia", the album continues strongly with "Sweet Talk", a well-done ballad sounding Velvet Underground-esque with a French horn driving home Pierce's ambiguous lyrics about war, love and lies. Although it seems a bit out of place as the first full song on the album (it would be fitting much later), "Sweet Talk" adequately foreshadows the profound sentiments present throughout the remaining tracks.The highlight of this album shines on an uplifting folk/pop track, "Soul on Fire" (and I don't care if Pierce didn't want it on the final cut). A resounding choir and strings are brilliantly layered over powerful lyrics and memorable vocal melodies, as Pierce sings "Baby, ya never should say never / I got a hurricane inside my veins / and I want to stay forever".It's surprising that the same artist wrote "Death Take Your Fiddle", as it comes from an entirely different, less uplifting place. The detailed inhaling and exhaling creates a feeling of illness, while Pierce moans "Morphine, Codeine, whiskey - they won't alter / The way I feel now death is all around", haunting the listener even further. He continues with this down-trodden tone in several other tracks, including "You Lie You Cheat" as well as "I Gotta Fire", where another of Pierce's characters finds himself struggling, but this time with hope: "So hard to fight when you're losing / I got a little fire in my soul".This is Pierce's first album in five years, during which he suffered a near-fatal illness leaving him hospitalized for some time (note the play on words: in the UK, "A&E" popularly refers to the Accidents and Emergencies ward). His honest, croaky voice and delicate songwriting pull from all aspects of life, possibly echoing his former bouts with drugs, alcohol and overall health. Pierce seems to have reigned it all together here and composed an incredible album. That being said, the album could do without the intermittent "Harmony" tracks that should provide smooth transitions, but rather distract more than captivate. His sense of timing also seems to be a bit off, with many tracks being too good to be so short ("Soul on Fire") or not good enough to be so long ("Baby I'm Just a Fool"), but, as a whole, Songs in A&E is superb.Put this album on and let your soul relax and then tense up, and then back again, experiencing everything in between; all the while accepting the company of another being who seems to have already experienced it all.Iggy
Here we are, almost a decade deep into the new millennium and my favorite album of the year sounds about as muffled and distorted as Alexander Graham Bell’s first telephone conversation; well maybe AGB wasn’t screaming like this.Titus Andronicus’ The Airing of Grievances stands out amongst other albums in these times of advanced technology, obsession over production value, and (curiously) the employment of AutoTune, vocoder, et al on every radio single. This New Jersey quintet of miscreants plays unabashedly loud, distorted rock music while frontman Patrick Stickles assaults your ears with his best top-of-your-lungs, guttural, screaming vocals. The sound is Lo-Fi to a T, but that is not to say that it does not sound good; hell, it’s great. The band has a punk rock sound whose closest cousin is Shoegaze, but this comparison can only be made based on definition alone.The album opens with a dirty trick. The first minute or so features gentle guitar and quiet singing, and as soon as you adjust the volume so you can make out the words, a gaggle of angry males scream out “FUCK YOU!” But you aren’t mad; you don’t even turn it down. It’s not going to sound any better at a lower volume. Accept the bombast. Anyway, what's the difference? This apathy resonates throughout the album as Stickles screeches lines that could be ripped from "Sartre for Dummies".On “Joset of Nazareth’s Blues”, Stickles shrieks out “From Galilee to Gethsemane to Golgotha, it’s a short walk” in a voice that sounds similar to a teenager getting in the last “AHHHHH, I FUCKING HATE YOU!” before slamming the bedroom door in his parents’ face. [I was an unhappy teenager :( ]Anchored by the duo of “No Future Pt. 1” and “No Future Pt. 2: The Days After No Future”, the latter third of the album outshines the first six tracks. This feat is due in large part to the beautiful symbiotic relationship that exists between the two “No Future” tracks. “Pt. 1” sets the table with an expansive, slow burning breakup song that rewards the listener with not only a distorted, dirty rock riff but the following lyrical gems: “There is not a doctor / That can diagnose me / I am dying slowly / from Patrick Stickles Disease” and “Life's been a long, sick game of 'Would You Rather' / so now I'm going to medical school... as a cadaver”. The TWO in the ONE-TWO-punch, “Pt. 2”, starts off knee-bouncing while quoting the guitar work from the previous track and proceeds to ride out the infectious riff. At which point the riff gives way to a haunting recitation of the very last words from The Stranger and then fades out. The two pieces, when listened together, sound like they deserve a spot in the Emergency Angst Survival Kit. Got ostracized at school? Tracks 7 and 8 on Airing of Grievances. Had a tough day at the office and a long commute awaits you? 7 and 8, Airing of Grievances.My only grief with this album is that there are only nine tracks; but, as a wise woman once said, “Gift horse. Mouth.” So, I’ll take the nine outstanding tracks and 46 minutes and go through them again, all the while pondering: why do I even care at all? I’m just going to die eventually.Cody
It took almost a week of listening to Songs in A&E to feel comfortable reviewing it. There is a presence apparent in Jason Pierce's delivery that made this album feel too meaningful to absorb completely on the first indulged listens. After 6 or 7 spins, I was happy to learn that the name of the group does not mislead the listener whatsoever. Spiritualized delivers a sound seemingly larger than themselves, transcending deep into a spiritual state that channels you through every end of the emotional spectrum: love and hate, joy and sadness...all channeling Pierce's characters.
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