There is more than a little to be said for looking back in order to clear the path while moving forward. Throughout his various solo endeavors,
Jim James
has been all over the musical map, from stripped-down acoustic songs (the first of two
George Harrison
tribute EPs) to electronically drenched spiritual songs (
Regions of Light and Sound of God
) to subdued experimental philosophical examinations (
Eternally Even
).
Uniform Distortion
finds
James
delving into the realms of lo-fi indie rock and homages to some of his classic rock heroes. Accompanied only by a rhythm section and backing vocalists,
revels in crunchy guitar worship in (mostly) upbeat, questioning songs. The cover offers a distorted reproduction of "The Illuminated Man" by
Duane Michals
, which first appeared in The Whole Earth Catalog. It moved
to want to use it. But
Michals
initially refused.
wrote him: "...when I saw it on the page there it spoke to me so deeply of how my head feels like it is exploding with the amount of information we are forced to consume on a daily basis and how that information is so DISTORTED there is almost no longer any tangible truth...More and more of us are feeling lost and looking for new ways out of this distortion and back to the truth...finding hope in each other and love."
relented.
That photo fits
perfectly.
illustrates the way to use it musically as a way of getting at perceived truths using overloaded guitars that blast through economical rock & roll. The songs are wonderfully hooky tomes about self-reflection with societal jeremiads woven through. After the crunchy, self-incriminating
Alex Chilton-esque
scree of "Just a Fool," "You Get to Rome" is a celebratory affirmation that marries
Status Quo
's stomp to
John Fogerty
's hooks. "Out of Time" finds
sounding like
Leon Russell
fronting
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
with squalling, razored guitar lines and an R&B chorus: "I'm either behind the times/Or ahead of the times/Or maybe I'm just out of time" is a theme that reverberates throughout the album. "Throwback" references
Bruce Springsteen
's upbeat optimism through a singalong chorus --
is so delighted that he cracks up laughing in the middle -- while "No Secrets" bridges
Zuma
-era
Young
to
Rumours
-period
Fleetwood Mac
to his own
My Morning Jacket
. The ghost of
the Ramones
shoots through the blistering "Better Late Than Never," while "Yes to Everything" touches on everyone from
Elvis Presley
Dinosaur Jr.
"No Use Waiting" is whomping psych-garage exhortation: "We better get together while we still got time." "Too Good to Be True" invokes gospel music to reveal truth as a multidimensional force. While it may not be any easier to make one's way through the distortion that
references, it is somehow easier to bear because of the empathy, joy, and contradiction in these songs. ~ Thom Jurek