IAN LOVE will be back in the United States by now, where he grew up with all the best and worst of New York's hardcore scene. He has been away touring in Europe this summer as support for JONAH MATRANGA. Sadly, stupidly even, I missed him.
There's just this lovely CD that has been waiting in my box. I'm only just starting to hear how good and how varied it is.
Up to a point it could be lumped in with the folksie whimsicalia that I like so much. But it might help more if I link it with names like MERCURY REV, FLAMING LIPS, THE TWILIGHT SINGERS or THE CONSTANTINES. The rock background gives him a bit of muscle and sinew and it definitely helps the mostly quiet music to stand up straight, even when the mournful tale might drop a shoulder and bend it all at the knees.
The music starts with a confiding and emotionally mature voice. Layers of carefully deflected instrumentation have been added (mostly by Love himself) and there are gentle harmony voices to catch those heart strings. There is no heavy percussion, but there are one or two big guitar sounds and the bass is confidently large in songs like closing track "It’s Not Over". I would say it's emotional music for tough guys. Emo, maybe, but very definitely not emo kid.
As a single work of eight months creation it sets out to say something about adulthood, fatherhood and coming out of the narcissistic self-destruction of adolescence. This is done obliquely and without platitude. Each song evokes a mood and a perspective: reflective, hopeful, poignant, nostalgic even. I want to say "pretty" because they are. But pretty doesn’t do them justice.
"Sky To Fall" starts "you're a saint, not a sinner" – a positive, reassuring song that goes delicately up the octaves and drops in wistful piano notes as the comforting theme accepts the pains and stands firm against them.
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"Butterfly" is conventional enough and very sweet. But it's surprisingly engaging, with a lump of genuine involvement that expresses real, not ersatz, emotion. "Old Enough" lavishes tender loving care on the arrangement and I feel really good about having so much to listen to, where my first impressions of the album had suggested a puritanical minimalism.
"Turn Of" is a chugging, quicker song. "Don’t Let Go" has sophisticated piano song written all over it. "Black Diamonds" comes in like a big space rock adventure, but it's a bit of a pussy really and gives LOVE a chance to go almost Polyphonic Spree on the vocal harmonies and wallop some teen guitar licks in to the play out.
"Hold Me Now" is the soppy love song I wanted to hear but was maybe a little disappointed with. Hear A Song" is a drive time kind of thing with a bit of culture about it. And "It’s Not Over" makes it so, with a sweetly blended song of misery and joy.
There is no reason at all why you would go and buy this record. But I can think of no reason at all why you wouldn’t play it a lot and feel much calmed, healed and pretty good about yourself every time those slide guitar notes took you to the final chorus of the last song. And in that last section there's a guitar lift that releases that serotonin in just the perfect measure,. Crafty bugger. It's a fine record.
www.ianlove.com
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