Review Summary: McCombs Shows No Lack of Ambition on Genre Hopping Double Album
Some recording artists garner undying devotion and huge levels of respect from peers and critics alike through developing a highly unique sound, and yes in many respects this could be considered the pinnacle of artistic expression for a musician; sometimes however this uniqueness can actually become a limitation and it’s important to give kudos to those who walk a different path, that of the creative chameleon. Cass McCombs is just such an artist; he’s recorded pretty indie folk with vocals that sound a little like Elliott Smith (2007’s ‘Dropping the Writ’); he’s provided the clean indie pop tones of 2005’s ‘PREfection’; and he’s taken a turn for the darker on 2011's gothic folk master class 'Wit’s End’. Each time he adopts a new style the resulting music feels totally natural, a talent that shouldn’t be underestimated as many artists have come a cropper attempting similar transitions in their careers. The double album ‘Big Wheel & Others’ finds McCombs acknowledging this legacy, weaving its way through a whole host of different styles with ease, all the while flowing like the soundtrack to a road trip down the back alleys and dirt tracks of the USA.
The length of this album is downright intimidating, nineteen songs (plus three spoken word interludes) is a lot of music especially with four songs clocking in at six minutes or longer, and it’s easy to pick this work apart looking for weak links and unnecessary detours. This goes against ‘Big Wheel’s very nature, this was never intended to be an easy cruising ride along a smooth tarmac highway, no this is a ramble so buckle in and prepare to get a little lost along the way. The first disc is front-loaded with straightforward tunes that help to gently ease the listener in; ‘Big Wheel’ is a perfect opening stomp of a track and takes us straight on the road with all the talk of diesel rigs and trucks; ‘Angel Blood’ and ‘Morning Star’ are hypnotic country meditations; ‘Brighter!’ is the closest thing here to an obvious pop song but takes care to maintain the understated vibe of the surrounding material; and ‘There Can Be Only One’ is an elliptical soft shuffle, toe tapping gem.
The album has more to offer than easygoing ditties though, and things soon take a turn for the weird. The first indication that this won’t be as straightforward a listen as first expected is the bluesy dirge ‘The Burning of Temple, 2012’, the song proves a drag on early listens then you find yourself craving its evocative smoky atmosphere. Similarly the nine minute long ‘Everything Has to Be Just So’ takes a long time to finally bed in, the crawling pace, creepy instrumentation and hypnotic vocals eventually worming their way into your subconscious after repeat listens. ‘Home on the Range’ is another epic, this time with more classic rock overtones; in particular the acoustic melodies in the verses recall Led Zeppelin’s folk material. A faithful cover of Thin Lizzy’s ‘Honesty is No Excuse’ keeps the retro rock vibe going into the home straight before the album’s rounded off by two stripped down acoustic numbers that happen to rank among McComb’s very best of the style.
Double albums tend to split opinion; some people will argue without fail that these are exercises in indulgence and should be edited down into more consistent single disc releases while others love the freedom this format affords. I nearly always identify with the latter opinion and find ‘Big Wheel & Others’ to be very much a case in point, sure the spoken word interludes add very little to my listening experience and some of the songs can be dismissed as pointless (‘It Means a Lot to Know You care’) or flat-out ugly (‘Satan is My Toy’), but in my mind that’s a small price to pay for adventure.
