w/Marc Olsen, Treasure State, Mines
Wed Aug 20, Crocodile, 9 pm, $8.
It sounds impossible, but there are artists who manage to remain frozen in time while progressing forward. J Mascis is the perfect example--his vocals remain as invariably plaintive as the accompanying guitar squalls that show up dependably on every album, though he's now singing about grownup problems rather than those of an overgrown teenager. It's as if the fear of stasis drives him to fight against the creeping comfort such balance affords. Joel R. L. Phelps and the Downer Trio exude a similar incongruence as Phelps' familiar voice hollers, "Stupid me I'll go/I paid for what I came for," on the arresting "Unless You're Tired of Living," three songs into their album Blackbird.
Released in 1999 on Pacifico and bearing textural similarities with the rising and falling mood of the Grifters' great Crappin' You Negative, Blackbird bursts with longing, frustration, and rue set to gorgeous walls of guitar. It's been nearly a decade since he left Silkworm and struck out on his own, and Phelps' elastic vocals sound like a balled fist as he rages with fiery passion then simmers to a dangerous slow burn. Somehow Blackbird sounds more vital now than it did a few years ago; its combination of Silkworm's complicated structures, an extraordinary cover song (Comsat Angels' "Lost Continent"), and fresh, unbridled anthemic assault provides a welcome earnestness, especially when what's come to represent emo is rapidly losing focus as it spirals down the drain.
About a year ago Phelps left Seattle and moved to Vancouver, BC, blaming what he felt was an inactive and unsupportive music scene as his reason for becoming an ex-pat. Hearing Blackbird again, I can't say I blame him. Though I've always loved the singer's voice, I wish I'd been able to separate his solo stuff and his country leanings (1995's Warm Springs Night) from the complexity and defiance of this sadly underheard album. It's an ass-kicker that grabs you by the neck before it boots you into fits of armchair angst.
