Review Summary: David Bazan once again bares all on Pedro the Lion’s ‘Phoenix’
The Seattle indie rockers’ first release in 15 years proves they haven’t missed a step during their absence
A recurring concept or thought that comes to mind when listening to Pedro the Lion’s discography is honesty, and how truly rare honesty is in music. Particularly in the genre of indie rock or, God forbid, emo, where so many artists’ music feels disingenuous, plastic, and as if it only exists to target a demographic of impressionable listeners.
Pedro the Lion’s authentic approach is utterly disarming. A true breath of fresh air in the lungs of indie rock fans.
Led almost entirely by songwriter David Bazan, Pedro the Lion have consistently set the standard for introspective and transparent music, dating back to their 1998 debut LP, ‘It’s Hard to Find a Friend’.
Bazan’s unpretentious songwriting prowess, rivaled only by contemporaries Mark Kozelek (Sun Kil Moon, Red House Painters), Blake Swarzenbach (Jawbreaker, Jets to Brazil), and Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie), is once again on full display with the release of ‘Phoenix’.
But the material here speaks from places within David Bazan that have been seldom brought to the light of day in his previous works.
His childhood in Phoenix, AZ.
Pedro the Lion’s 5 studio albums, along with Bazan’s 4 solo albums and one release under the moniker Headphones, have covered miles of vulnerable and deeply personal material.
Material such as Bazan’s battle with alcoholism and his decades-spanning divorce and denouncement of Christianity (and subsequent search for new meaning in life after religion).
Perhaps this is what makes ‘Phoenix’ so damn excellent – the sheer fact that the well has not yet begun to run dry for David Bazan and Pedro the Lion.
‘Phoenix’ immediately shows its hand with opener, and lead single, “Yellow Bike”, a jangly pop tune about a Christmas where 5 year old Bazan received his first bicycle, and concurrently, his first taste of freedom. After an intro of crooning over a simple bassline, the song erupts into a driving jam, plunging towards a subdued yet uplifting chorus that finds Bazan looking back fondly.
“And I remember what it was like
Astride my yellow bike
First freedom, second life
All the places I could ride”
This chorus, more-or-less, does a good job at summing up the goal of ‘Phoenix’.
The album’s strength is its simplicity, in both its music and lyrics. The listener doesn’t have to strain their neck searching for meaning in blatantly obscured lyrics, nor do they have to wait for the melancholic pop hooks and infectious melodies. Inversely, the listener isn’t utterly bombarded with ham-fisted lyrics that offer no wiggle room within the listener’s personal interpretation, nor are the melodies and music overly flamboyant and inflated.
‘Phoenix’ finds that sacred middle ground and straddles it.
It is, of course, not without some flaws. “Clean Up”, while featuring an enjoyably bouncing little riff on guitar, offers a forgettable chorus and a rather mundane middle 8 section that sounds like an uninspired B-side from ‘Orange Rhyming Dictionary” era Jets to Brazil.
Similar criticisms can be said about the fairly boring following song, “Powerful Taboo”
The album quickly lands back on its feet with standout track “Model Homes”, however. A dreamy yet incongruous guitar line weaves in and out of the syncopated drum and bass lines as Bazan passionately recalls wanting a better life as a child. “Model Homes”, with its sprawling guitar leads and infectious chorus, is a song that is equal parts catchy and heart-wrenching.
The top two tracks on the album though are without question ‘Circle K’ and ‘Black Canyon’ – which would undoubtedly receive my votes for the 2 best songs of 2019.
‘Circle K’ embodies all of the things that makes ‘Phoenix’ great as Bazan flexes his songwriting muscles. A completely stripped down tune that opens with the guitar and bass playing a descending riff so perfectly intertwined that its sounds as though the two instruments are engaging in a heartfelt conversation. Here, Bazan, just over a whisper, shares with the listener a time in which he unknowingly spent his allowance at a gas station. ‘Circle K’ is ‘Phoenix’ at its most profoundly sad and relatable.
The latter, ‘Black Canyon’, is quite different in tone and approach than ‘Circle K’ and ‘Phoenix’ as a whole. The most noticeable difference being how the song is not about Bazan directly, but rather about his uncle Ray who was a paramedic responding to a suicide where a man threw himself in front of an oncoming semi. ‘Black Canyon’ is a masterclass in building tension in a song, as the guitars anxiously build in the verses before resolving politely in the chorus.
It is worth noting too that David Bazan is now 43 years old and thus sounds nothing like how he did on Pedro the Lion’s previous 2004 release, ‘Achilles Heel’. Bazan’s voice now sounds exponentially wiser with an almost Springsteen-esque quality as he shakes with powerfully emotional vibrato.
With this in mind, it is apparent that Bazan needed to take time away from Pedro the Lion. He has aged and his intentions have changed with time. He’s no longer the same man that wrote ‘Winners Never Quit’ or ‘Control’. Bazan has obtained the insight required to dissect his youth after a life of ***-ups and self-reflection.
Bazan has always written for himself, but in the past it seemed as though Pedro the Lion’s music existed for Bazan to get things out of his mind. But now it is apparent that David Bazan is writing for a similar yet entirely different endgame. He is writing in an attempt to settle the score within himself.
And the results are brilliant.
Top Tracks:
Model Homes
Circle K
Black Canyon
Yellow Bike
Quietest Friend
