Listening to The Baptist Generals' new album, it seems like it should be important to take a quick look at the history of the label which put it out (Sub Pop) to really understand the release's importance. Founded in Seattle in the mid-Eighties, Sub Pop's original mission was to try and get some of the band's which were springing up around the Pacific Northwest a bit of exposure but, when grunge exploded and bands like Nirvana, Soundgarden and Mudhoney suddenly got huge, Sub Pop – who had released albums by all of them – became an institution. It was a really, really good time (those aforementioned bands helped to save Sub Pop from complete financial ruin) but when grunge died between mid-1994 and early 1995, the “house that grunge built” needed a new voice and began diversifying. New releases from The Flaming Lips, Combustible Edison and Sleater-Kinney saw the label venturing carefully in a new(ish) direction and finding some ears left previously untouched by the label.
Since 1996, Sub Pop has diversified in lots of new directions and signed myriad new bands, but the tradition and rich history as well as the memory of it is what makes hearing Jackleg Devotional To The Heart – The Baptist Generals' new release – so interesting. On this album, there are elements of every creative turn and fascination the label has dedicated its time to over the last twenty-five years on it. It's definitely an underground record, but the overall sound of it could play anywhere to any crowd (from the underground through the ranks of Top 40); it is a genuinely unique and diverse outsider.
They may be outsiders, even in the underground – but one listen will get those who remember the joy which came with discovering a band by accident at a record store (before the internet made it easy) very, very excited. Right away, they'll know this record is something special, even if they're only listening passively.
The Baptist Generals will have listeners' attention from the moment Jason Reimer begins throttling/strumming his acoustic guitar mercilessly to open “Machine En Prolepsis,”while Peter Salisbury absent-mindedly that sounds a little like “When The Saints Come Marching In.” Even in just reading that, the idea that the music The Baptist Generals are making could be exciting might not make sense – but the proof is in the listening; how the sounds crash and bang before spontaneously gelling into a sublime rhythm for “Dog That Bit You” might read as unlikely, but it sounds revelatory. Hearing how it all comes together as it does feels like discovery and amazement in song; it's fantastic to hear, and it only gets better as “Dog That Bit You” progresses. The sleepy but solid sort of rhythm (envision the best parts of Beck's early recorded output meeting the sounds that Pavement were making between Slanted And Enchanted and The Carrot Rope EP on the best mixtape you ever heard) of “Dog That Bit You” proves to be pretty infectious as listeners fall easily into the groove the band lays down, and heads will be bobbing involuntarily by the time the song ends.
Heads will still be bobbing through “Clitorpus Christi” (which sort of rambles along like alt-rock's answer to Dave Matthews or Jack Johnson) and “Turnunders And Overpasses” but, by “Turnunders…,” the Generals will have already started twisting and tweaking their methodology a bit to make this sound their own. Deep (on an almost subliminal level) beneath the rolling sound of the guitar, bass and Chris Flemmons' mournful vocal, there is this weird but bracing string section which floats to the surface occasionally and surprises listeners by shooting some unexpected depth into the music before sinking again. That extra push proves to be fairly remarkable, when you hear it, because it puts the heart, soul and emotional depth of the song as well as Flemmons' earnest desire to bare it all into relief; it's awesome and feels instantly rewarding.
Nice surprises like that found in “Turnunders And Overpasses” occasionally appear throughout the remainder of Jackleg Devotional To The Heart and continually prove to be the heartwarming reward that listeners happily treasure about the album. Those moments – like the breezy keyboard lick buried in “Oblivion”, the urgent vocal rant of “Bromides,” that unusual sitar-sounding strum at the end of the first chorus in “Broken Glass” and the enormous, orchestral static that runs under “Floating” – all end up standing out from the album's running because they're so sudden and unexpected that listeners can never really see them coming, they just appear, blow the minds of those who catch them effortlessly and vanish. That effortless quality (and the fact that they're always so unexpected) is the aspect of Jackleg Devotional To The Heart that will hold listeners hypnotized throughout the record's running, and it will also have listeners coming back repeatedly to try and find the subtleties they missed on previous passes through. In that way, listeners will find that Jackleg Devotional To The Heart is truly a record to love and might just signify the emergence of a new star in Sub Pop's ranks.
Artist:
www.baptistgenerals.com/
www.subpop.com/artists/the_baptist_generals
www.facebook.com/baptistgenerals
www.twitter.com/baptistgenerals
Download:
The Baptist Generals – Jackleg Devotional To The Heart – “Dog That Bit You” – [mp3]
The Baptist Generals – Jackleg Devotional To The Heart – “Broken Glass” – [mp3]
Album:
Jackleg Devotional To The Heart is out now. Buy it here on Amazon .
