16 Half Smiles Of The Decomposed

   

Introduction

As I spent the first half of this year almost exclusively listening to whole GBV albums (or chronological sequences of them) on a loop, this was one of those that, like Earthquake Glue, seemed at least reasonably strong without actually leaping out at me. One of the joys of doing this blog is taking a deep dive and seeing how each LP stacks up against the others...

The Album

A wash of warm, gentle chords

Yet again (for the fifth time in a row), the album commences with a cracker. 'Everybody Thinks I'm A Raincloud (When I'm Not Looking)' is a driven piece of carefully controlled riffing overlaid with an uplifting melody. There's a bit of philosophical introspection ('I crept from a soft dimension / where one of my souls was lighter'), but overall there's an optimistic, forward-looking tone to the lyric ('every change of tomorrow... hungry to fix it... a miracle cure for my sorrow') that's perfectly in tune with the invigorating nature of the music.

'Raincloud' is certainly a highlight, but it is eclipsed by a couple of other tracks. Closing song 'Huffman Prairie Flying Field' has a similar momentum but has a more swirlingly melancholy atmosphere. Following the mid-point interlude, the gradual build of extra layers of guitar make it impeccably moving; and it's given added emotional heft by the way that Pollard extemporises with the end of the final 'far too long' refrain.

But the apex of the album is the wonderfully titled 'Tour Guide At The Winston Churchill Memorial'. The verse is fascinating: a wash of warm, gentle chords that sit beneath a meandering, achingly sad melody; but the two elements feel almost disjointed, circling each other, seeking common purpose. The chorus brings resolution ('be on top of me now'), but then things dissolve and separate once more ('she already is as far from you crying now'). It has a delirious, simultaneously sad and uplifting quality that's genuinely touching. 

Public debacle

We also have this trio of songs that are pretty top-drawer, but all for different reasons:

'The Closets Of Henry': A tense verse, underpinned by a chugging rythmn guitar and chiming arpeggios, that bursts forth deliciously into a thrillingly abandoned chorus. Poetic if inpentetrable lyrics ('Charlemagne's creation falling slow / of an old king's secret files, a jewel box for his nose'), although there is a sense of some sort of public debacle ('Wings refer to the wedding cake / the glasses fall and hearts will break').

'Asphyxiated Circle': A deep furrow of a riff, revolving relentlessly; there's an unremitting sense of urgency. Another enigmatic lyric, but one that points towards relationship uncertainties: 'Human frailty on parade... a silent party, secret wish / at best an unconvincing kiss.'

'Girls Of Wild Strawberries': A joyful slice of 60s-tinged pyschedelic pop that stomps along with carefree verve. It dares you to find it overly flimsy and fey, and wins.

Vex the souls

A couple of songs seem to make a bit of a nod to the band's past work. 'Sons Of Apollo' has an astringent quality that wouldn't have felt out of place on Aerial Nostalgia or Same Place The Fly Got Smashed. This is reinforced by the portentous opening monologue ('It'll be just as it was in the days of Lot, and will vex the souls of God's most devoted, devout saints') and the lo-fi coda.

'Sing For Your Meat' has a similarly lo-fi feel, and is even more sparse. It's also blessed with a beautifully world-weary melody, backed by some engagingly lazy slide guitar. 

Carefully controlled

In the realm of solidy decent tracks, we have:

'Sleep Over Jack': Taut and edgy with an air of mystery; carefully controlled and tautly focused, but never quite goes anywhere truly exciting.

'Gonna Never Have To Die': A jaunty stomp, but feels just a touch lightweight.

'Asia Minor': Sprightly, with an undoubtedly catchy chorus, although the melody feels somewhat predictable.

Warm fuzz

The album's weakest moments come in the more downtempto tracks. 'Window Of My World' goes for a folky/pastoral vibe, but ultimately feels a little fey and flimsy and features some rather saccharine interludes. 'A Second Spurt Of Growth' drifts by in a warm fuzz of folkish whimsy. '(S)mothering and Coaching' has a little more drama to it, but is just a little too bland and wholesome overall.

In Conclusion...

I could pretty much write the same conclusion for Half Smiles Of The Decomposed  as I did for Universal Truths And Cycles: it doesn't have the exhilaratingly ragged charm of something like Alien Lanes, but neither does it have the consistent strength of, say, Under The Bushes. Again, firmly mid-table - but, it must be remembered, in a very strong league.

One final thing to add: last time, I made (mild) criticism of the sequencing on Earthquake Glue. So far, that seems to have been a bit of a blip, because this aspect is spot on here. 

Added to the 'GBV Favourites' playlist: 

Just over half make the cut...

• Everybody Thinks I'm A Raincloud (When I'm Not Looking)
• Girls Of Wild Strawberries
• The Closets Of Henry
• Tour Guide At The Winston Churchill Memorial
• Sons Of Apollo
• Sing For Your Meat
• Asphyxiated Circle
• Huffman Prairie Flying Field

Album rank:

When I've struggled to separate albums, I've let the maths do the decision-making for me. On this occasion though, it didn't help; I simply can't prise Half Smiles and UT&C apart. (Actually, if I go to three decimal places, there is a tiny difference, but my feeling is that if you have to get to the thousandths to make a distinction, you can't really say you prefer one over the other.)

I thought it might also be interesting to consider what proportion of tracks have made it onto my 'GBV Favourites' playlist. So far, we have:

The most notable difference comes with Devil Between My Toes, which is mid-table by this list, but second from bottom in overall score - a result of some strong songs being interspersed with largely forgettable instrumentals. Also worth noting that Under The Bushes tops the list here: as I said in that post, 'UTBUTS may have sacrificed a little of the left-of-centre innovation for consistency, but it is still crammed with breathtakingly good tunes.' 

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