|
JOAN OF ARC Fifty-seven albums into a ridiculously prolific career, Tim Kinsella is feeling pretty bummed out. But really, that’s not so bad. Nobody does misery like Kinsella, and Boo Human is the break-up album to end all break-up albums, scraping bottom alongside his best work in a half -dozen bands. Who else would fall as low as Kinsella does here on “A Tell-Tale Penis” (on which he’s chasing after an old girlfriend) or “Insects Don’t Eat Bananas” (“If you really insist on squashing me like a bug/Couldn’t you be merciful enough and just stomp on me instead of this prolonged smear?”). Named for the sound of Kinsella’s broken-hearted boo-hoo-hooing, Boo Human is more intimate than JOA’s last few albums, as the band continues to evolve toward music that’s simultaneously cerebral and visceral. That’s a tall order, and the songs can be as gentle as the falsetto, fingerpicked “Shown And Told” or as angry as the jagged, off-kilter “Laughter Reflected Back,” ranging from solo acoustic to chamber strings to electric cacophony. Boo Human is far from cohesive, but the playing is sharp, sympathetic and strong enough to create poetry out of everyday desperation. [Polyvinyl, www.polyvinylrecords.com] —Kenny Berkowitz
|
