I think the problem is the length.
That’s what she said.
No I’m serious.
So is she.
Moving on, I’m talking about the new Rustic
Overtones album, Let’s Start a Cult, and how my problem with it, the main hang
up I have about it, is the length. It’s too short. That’s the stumbling block.
The last song seems to start right after the third song is over. I know there
is a slow song in there somewhere, but ultimately we have the first two- “Let’s
Start a Cult” and “Let’s Start a Cult Part 2,” which sound like one song,
albeit one with a regrettable outro, and a nice enough third song, “Solid.” Then,
just like that, the horns creep in for the beginning of “Going Out With a
Bang/Grand Finale” and a few short minutes later, the album is over.
It’s confusing.
That’s what she said.
Shut up, I’m still serious.
Let’s Start a Cult is a shade less than thirty
minutes long. It’s only eight songs, none that reach the five minute mark and
only three that hit four minutes. In contrast, the last album, New Way Out, had
only five songs out of thirteen that were under four minutes. Now a song doesn’t
need to be long to be good. That’s not the point. The point is that part of the
draw of Rustic albums was the depth and scope of them. There was a shitload of
shit going on. With Let’s Start a Cult, there are really just a handful of
things happening. It’s not disappointing and it’s not like the music is bad- it’s
just…different.
My relationship with Rustic started in high school
and since then, we’ve had the kind of relationship most people who are in their
early thirties have with friends in high school- on again, off again. Life gets
complex around your mid-twenties and the older friends you have seem to drift
in and out of your life. With each reappearance they joyfully (usually) remind
you why you were friends in the first place. I haven’t been as excited for a
new album like I was with Let’s Start a Cult since New Way Out. Interestingly
enough though, after listening to both the first time through, I was left confused.
My old friend had changed. They had grown a beard, maybe started to hang out
with different people. With New Way Out it took some time to get through the new
facial hair, new crowds and new habits before I was able to see my friend
again. For the most part everything is still awesome, just not as awesome as it
was. But that’s life- you know, we grow, we change, we adapt. Inherently we’ll
always be the same person- just tweaked a little bit here and there.
Yet this Let’s Start a Cult person- well they’ve
changed even more and frankly, I’m just not sure how to react. It’s as if that
same friend suddenly started going by their middle name or became a Yankees’
fan. I know we’re friends because we have been for so long. Now though, I’m
starting to wonder why we were friends and if we still are.
Let’s Start a Cult had a disadvantage from the jump-
Tony McNaboe was gone. That dude is one of my favorite drummers out there and
the only drummer who makes me want to instantly play drums after listening to
him. He’s no longer in Rustic. His replacement is fine- totally capable. While
I question why he always wears sunglasses, I can’t knock his drumming. He’s
Charlie Watts steady. Great. But the Tony Mac pop is gone and I really think
with it, that signature sound of Rustic is gone too. There are moments of
familiarity within Let’s Start a Cult, but they’re fleeting. Maybe I should be
more concerned with my inability to move on because there’s a good sized part
of me that just wants to hear “Combustible” over and over again.
I’ve thought about this before- how deep down, we
should want our favorite artists, whether it’s musicians, filmmakers or
writers, to change over time. If you keep doing the same thing over and over
again you become Jack Johnson and I haven’t listened to anything he’s released
after 2007 for a reason- I don’t see the point. But at the same time, we don’t
want our favorite artists to change too much because then we might not be a fan
anymore. Case in point, The Office- where Michael Scott left and over the past
couple seasons, so has the dry absurdity that made the show so much fun. Now?
Now it’s like almost any other bad comedy on television. It’s sad. It should be
put down like a sick dog or the 2011 Red Sox. But there’s the fine line that
comes with liking an artist with staying power- the line of evolving.
You could see and more accurately, you could hear
Rustic’s evolution with New Way Out. String arrangements had replaced the horn
arrangements and on stage, they had more keyboards up there than an IT
department. There was a definitive maturity to New Way Out and a transparent
attempt to move beyond a jam like “Combustible.” A jam like that was Paranoid
Social Club territory now. “Nuts and Bolts?” That song is almost eight minutes
long, but is absolutely nothing like “Dig,” the last long song the band
released, way back in the day on Long Division. “Nuts and Bolts” had parts and
sections. It was essentially eight to ten songs in one. The true testament to
the skill of Rustic was that each of those teased songs were great and were potentially
better than what most people were releasing. If there is any connection to be
made to Rustic’s past with Let’s Start a Cult, it’s a connection to “Nuts and
Bolts.” Let’s Start a Cult really doesn’t sound like an album, but a multi-part
song with each song acting more as a movement than a traditional song.
Let’s Start a Cult is good from a music perspective.
That’s not the issue here. Let’s Start a Cult is disappointing from a content
perspective. The songs are all good, but not memorable- the ability to create a
lasting impression is missing. It’s an album that sounds like an idea not quite
flushed out- so close, but not quite.
If it’s the last one Rustic Overtones ever come out
with, it’ll only make it more disappointing.
I just wish it was longer.
That’s what she said.
Probably.
And she’d be right.
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