A deeper look at the grooves pressed into Beggar Weeds’ Tragedy in U.S. History LP. It’s funny how, sometimes, there’s a collision between music and time which ends up leaving people to feel like they showed up late to the party, or walked in by accident without knowing there was anything happening at all. It’s not one of those occasions that anyone enjoys, but the reward which comes with the music still leaves those who came upon it glad that they discovered it. Beggar Weeds’ new album is exactly that kind of document – split between being a career retrospective album and a collection of demos that were produced by indie and alt-rock statesman Michael Stipe but which haven’t been released before now, Tragedy in U.S. History attempts to give the uninitiated a summation of all that has been in the Florida-based band’s all-too-brief time together (from 1986 ti 1992) and, from a discovery standpoint (that is, discovering most of the good aspects of the band – all collected together in one place), it does a pretty good job.
Tragedy in U.S. History‘s desire to express both the band’s ambition as well as that of the album itself is evident as soon as needle catches groove on the album’s A-side and “All I Need” opens its’ running. There, Scott Leuthold’s jangly, trebly guitars can’t help but call to mind shades of (Murmur era) R.E.M., but the soul in his voice sets the greatest, most obvious differentiation as soon as he lets it rip. Comparatively, Michael Stipe is about as stoic as Leonard Cohen while Leuthold presses past assumptions and really puts the vocal “honk” in “honky tonk.” That might sound like criticism, but it really isn’t; the soul in Leuthold’s vocals combined with the band’s lean, sinewy barroom rock backdrop is simultaneously hypnotic and raucous.
The energy set up on “All I Need” endures through “Skinny,” “Harry Lee” and “Graduating,” and holds up exactly as well as it did on the album’s first cut. In each case, the band comes close to sounding like their energy might have been inspired by a religious revival event in their native Florida; while the band was often compared to other “swamp rock” groups in the state, a consistent jangle-rock push rings through the instruments and the higher tones that Leuthold’s voice reaches come close to almost sounding like South Carolina field calls – they sometimes come close to sounding piercing, in tone, but can hit listeners warmly, in performance.
As solidly as the A-side plays in form, listeners won’t be able to miss a certain change in focus, when “Churchin’” winds up to close the side. There, the heart and soul which rang through the lyrics elsewhere on the side changes as “Churchin’” opens with the words, “I don’t mind, I don’t care” before Leuthold almost seems to mope and mumble at the notion of having a good time. Listeners who are still new to Beggar Weeds may have some difficulty balancing the two tones that the song establishes, in that regard – and they’ll still be trying when Leuthold shifts again for the “We’re churchin’” choral rejoinder – which can confuse listeners because it doesn’t sound ironic or loaded, in the slightest. Needless to say, the final emotion left with listeners will likely be one of utter confusion; granted, it could be seen as an enormous hook which could get listeners to flip the record over as soon as “Churchin’” lets out, but there’s no question that it’s an unexpected bait to cast – if that was indeed the band’s desired intent.
Now, as neatly as the A-side of the album establishes the persona of Beggar Weeds, the B-side changes directions in a most unexpected way by hinting at all that could have been, had the band lasted longer than they did. On the B-side, listeners find a collection of demos which were produced by Michael Stipe which has gone unreleased until now and, listening to them, it is really, really easy to hear Stipe’s fingerprints on them; while the music on the album’s A-side bristles with a bright and jangly energy, a deeper and thicker low end shades “Seer,” which gives it greater depth and pushes Leuthold’s vocals clearly into the foreground. That arrangement endures after “Seer” and through “Linden and Mary” – although Leuthold sounds a little more like Fred Schneider in his performance there, before reaching an unusual tonal hybrid of Schneider and Gordon Gano on “Elizabeth.” While such track-by-track alterations could easily be dismissed as “early career stylistic development,” the sharper edge that’s visible in the singer’s performance on “Daddy’s Little Angel” is simultaneously more difficult to ignore or excuse and the manic energy of “Ship” basically ensures that some listeners who have run front-to-back with this album will be relieved to see the needle lift – it’s just too “country” for the band’s own good.
Standing back from the Tragedy in U.S. History LP, it’s easy to see that Beggar Weeds were still developing as the tape rolled on the album and had yet to hammer all the flaws out of their sound. Had the band hung on a little longer, there’s little doubt that they could have achieved their desired goal and won a piece of the alt-rock world for themselves; the promise was there, just not enough time to realize it. It’s a shame that the band fell short of their goal but, even so, about seventy-five per cent of Tragedy in U.S. History stands as “must hear” material, and so leaves a portion of a diagram that some other ambitious player may be inspired to finish, someday. Here’s hoping…. [Bill Adams]
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Album:
Beggar Weeds’ Tragedy in U.S. History LP is out now. Buy it here on Strolling Bones Records’ official web site.
