Depending on the day, it's very easy to love and very easy to hate the side project albums that members of well-known punk bands make. On the days when the average listener loves them, they'll appreciate the deliberate departures from their established comfort zones that artists make; sometimes it's fun to listen to Chuck Ragan get all folky or hear Chris Wollard take to the mic with the Ship Thieves. It can be fun, but none of that is really a “listen to it every day” thing – not like listening to Hot Water Music can be. The same is true of Lawrence Arms singer/guitarist Chris McCaughan's side project Sundowner; the music McCaughan makes on his own can be a great “get away from the every day” for casual listening, but it doesn't have the kind of appeal which would foster a group of fans who aren't also fans of The Lawrence Arms. That isn't intended to be a damning indictment, it just seems to be the case; Four One Five Two (Sundowner's debut album) was alright and We Chase The Waves (the project's sophomore album) was a respectable effort, but neither of them was essential listening. Neon Fiction (Sundowner's third album, first for Fat Wreck) continues in the tradition of being 'not bad but not memorable or essential either' – but it does have the benefit of being both confident and competent; three albums in, McCaughan has figured out what works for this project and plays to that without deviating from his path at any point.
The confidence that McCaughan has in this new batch of songs is apparent from the moment “Cemetery West” knocks these proceedings off on their way, with Wallflowers-esque song structures and tones supporting passably introspective lyrics and subject matter. Some listeners will say that lines like “I carried a broken compass/ Always led me back to the same coordinates/ I kept going lots of places/ I kept ending somewhere I'd been before” sound poetic (on the right day) and some will wonder what they're missing because it sounds familiar (on the wrong day), but curiosity will compel them to continue listening. To his credit, McCaughan wrings as much catharsis and as many perfectly familiar images as he can into the song, but that just makes the fact that it's still hit-or-miss that much more heartbreaking.
That heartbreaking “maybe it will and maybe it won't catch, depending on the day” form holds up through each and every last one of the other nine songs which make up Neon Fiction too. Some moments (like the “The way you made me feel that night/ It's like you loved me all your life” line from “My Beautiful Ruins,” and “We grow apart/ we drift like continents” like from “We Drift Eternal”) are able to captivate imaginations or make memories for a minute, but they become disjoint when the music supporting them fails to be as memorable as the lyrics, so they end up just sort of floating in the ether, forgettable. The closest to a really memorable individual song in this run-time is “Life In The Embers,” where the beats get ambitious and solid and the guitars follow suit. Those signs of life are exciting and really something to remember; when McCaughan rasps “I'm a collage of success and defeat,” it sounds like a fantastic battle cry and pigheaded stab against mediocrity – but then it's back to heartbreak when the singer lets the energy levels drop right off again after “Life In The Embers” ends and goes back to mumbling along, impotently until the record closes.
After running top to bottom with Neon Fiction, the best that can be said about it is that it's good for some occasions. It can really speak to the heart and soul of listeners on the right days, but the “right” day isn't “every” day. Because of that, Neon Fiction might sit on shelves for weeks or even months at a time going unlistened to, but then it will suddenly seem like it's the only album that matters under the right circumstance. In that way, the record requires patience; it won't be every listener's best friend but, on the right day, it'll be the friend they need.
Artist:
www.myspace.com/thesundownermusic
www.facebook.com/SUNDOWNERMUSIC
www.twitter.com/sundownermusic
Album:
Neon Fiction will be released on September 3, 2013 by Fat Wreck Chords. Buy it here , directly from Fat Wreck Chords.
