w/AereogrammeFri April 11, Crocodile, 8 pm, $12.
Though they're sung with the intention of providing comfort as a loved one slips into the unconsciousness of sleep, lullabies are by and large the saddest songs ever written. They're farewells fraught with melancholic observations, last visions, and surrender. They are sendoffs--a concession that the act of leaving is what will cause change. In that light, it's no longer unlikely that a song called "Child Killers," with its soft-struck xylophone and quietly plucked strings, is a lullaby meant to usher release from a shitty life with the blind hope that the next life might be better. "Understand that it's here that I'm coming from/If I'm wrong or I'm right/Maybe soon we'll find peace in another one/Say Goodnight."
The new Delgados album, Hate, is not for the innocent or light of heart. Like The Great Eastern before it (inspired by a hostel for alcoholics situated mere yards away from a pub), this most recent album from the Glaswegian quartet is for those who have lost the ability to blink. It comes on heartbroken and goes out drowning in confusion, while singer Emma Pollock's dreamy voice seductively belies her often quite dark lyrics. A typical sample: "Trust in us/If you can trust in us/Follow the lead for hearts that bleed/We're a difficult breed." "Lullabies are so enduring because they're folk songs," explains Pollock, "and folk songs are about the hard times and struggles of life." "Child Killers" might sound almost sweet, but co-singer Alun Woodward's vocals are less romantic in texture, possessing an offhand weariness that makes his songs resonate with bleakness.
Which would all make for a big, fat bummer if the music behind it weren't so absolutely breathtaking. Though they are essentially a quartet, the Delgados packed the small stage when they played the Crocodile in support of The Great Eastern in 2000; 10 musicians played the necessary parts (woodwinds and strings are prominent), creating an epic performance every bit as majestic as the Flaming Lips' Soft Bulletin concert at the Showbox. Honestly, I'd never seen such a satisfying live show before, and I can't imagine anyone in attendance whose ass wasn't kicked by the roller-coaster-like live set. The Delgados will have all that sumptuous instrumentation with them this time as well. "We'd hate to have people getting to know the songs the way they sound on the record and then spring a four-piece band on them when they come to the show," Pollock says, noting that the band hit up their U.S. label (Mantra Recordings/Beggars Group) for a lot of money in order to bring the proper amount of musicians on the road.
Though two albums precede it--1997's Domestiques and 1999's Peloton--The Great Eastern was the record that clued the U.S. in to what the UK had already known: that the Delgados incorporated an unrivaled amount of empathy--and the sound of not-quite-broken souls--into their songs. The characters on The Great Eastern know they are their own worst enemies, damned by themselves yet proud of the control that gives them. Woodward's "American Trilogy" is a story of a man's sinking depression and the light he finds when he realizes, "No one, I mean no one, can depress me more than I can." Hate takes the self-realization-versus-self-motivation tussle to the extreme on its sadly comical title song; try not to sing along when the band joins together for the rousing chorus, "Come on hate yourself everyone here does so just enjoy yourself/Hate is everywhere, look inside your heart and you will find it there."
The band's growing popularity has also shed deserved light on Chemikal Underground, the record label they founded and continue to run. Home to Mogwai, Arab Strap, Radar Bros., Aereogramme, and Bis, Chemikal Underground is a labor of love for the Delgados; Pollock laughs as she admits they may all have to get day jobs to support it rather than give up on the music they love.
The band's growing popularity has also shed deserved light on Chemikal Underground, the record label the members founded and continue to run. Home to Mogwai, Arab Strap, Radar Bros., Aereogramme, and Bis, Chemikal Underground is a labor of love for the Delgados; Pollock laughs as she admits they may all have to get day jobs to support it rather than give up on the music they love. The fact that a band this good isn't already a household name offers more proof that crap is what sells. In this case, perhaps Hate will do some good.
