Sometimes the man behind
Death Seat
is
Wooden Wand
, sometimes simply
Wand
, and in the past, part of
Wooden Wand & the Vanishing Voice
, but he's always
James Jackson Toth
, and he's always an uncompromising singer/songwriter. That remains true on this outing, which is the first
album to appear on
Michael Gira
's boutique label
Young God Records
. In the past, the label has been known for freak-folk linchpin
Devendra Banhart
's neo-hippie musings, but while the
style remains an organic, lo-fi, acoustic-based sound,
Toth
is nobody's hippie. He's influenced by the poetic side of the outlaw country camp, and more than anything,
suggests what the dark country/folk visions of
Townes Van Zandt
might have sounded like if the latter were born into the indie folk generation. Not that these moody, imagery-laden tunes have no contemporary reference points -- they could also be envisioned as a product of the evil twin of
Vetiver
's
Andy Cabic
, or an alternate-universe version of
Bonnie "Prince" Billy
, if his highness traded his
Yeats
collection for a
Bukowski
library. Although
is joined by a number of guests on
, including members of
Mercury Rev
,
Lambchop
Silver Jews
, and
Big Blood
, the songs still conjure up a lonely world of dusty, wind-blown narratives from a troubadour doomed to roam the earth with nothing but his own mournful ballads for company. Even when
deals in the kind of themes that would entail warm-and-fuzzy warbling in the hands of another artist, he turns things toward a deliciously dark and twisted path. On
"Until Wrong Looks Right,"
for instance, his approach to the subject of procreation brings the questions "What if we have a daughter who we can't trust?/What if we have a son and we hate his guts?" He even finds a way to turn heavenly symbols into something unwholesome, singing "Send me your benevolent angels/I'll make whores of them one by one" on
"Ms. Mowse."
In a less skilled writer's hands, this sort of thing might be off-putting, but with
behind the wheel,
makes for a weirdly wonderful ride. ~ J. Allen