Formerly the singer/songwriter of his own band in the ‘90’s (the critically acclaimed but commercially overlooked Grant Lee Buffalo) Grant Lee-Phillips decided to go it alone at the turn of the new millennium. His record company (Warner) at an impasse so far as what to do with the talented but commercially unsuccessful songwriter's group when it came time to exercise their option, Phillips made it easy for all involved when he gave word he would embark on a solo career to simply make music for himself. And to no one’s surprise his work of sometimes rustic and often times cool, smooth, and wise songwriting and musicianship followed him into the new century as Grant Lee Phillips. A bit more focused on the mellow and thoughtful musically, and as heartfelt as ever, Grant Lee Buffalo never really stopped. Just changed its name, it’s players, and it’s way of doing business. The principle, talented and affecting as ever, stayed the same.
nineteeneighties at first glance would seem an odd choice of work to indulge in for this long time independent artist. But having grown up in the eighties, for his fourth solo album Phillips decided to reach back to a time when he remembered “for every hokey hair band there was at least one alternative”. A time when “alternative” wasn’t something you were influenced by or called yourself for cool points, but simply were. Musically speaking. These, some of his best loved songs from his youth (not that he is terribly old at 42) are also some of the better known songs from that era. Even if it took them ten or twenty years after release to become known as such and appreciated. There is nothing obscure here, but nothing near top 40, either. Like I said, when alternative
meant alternative. And from the start of this record to the end Phillips brings back meaning and worth to that term with truly alternative takes on these now for the most part well known classics from an increasingly bygone era. Has it really been almost twenty years since The Pixies “Wave Of Mutilation” first didn’t grace the airwaves? From a now classic album called Doolittle that struggled to sell 200,000 copies when released while craptastic bands like Bon Jovi and Extreme sold millions upon millions? Yes it has been that long. But not to fear, because Grant Lee is here to put an all new spin on this and eleven other formerly alternative “hits”. And there isn’t a miss in the bunch.
Hitting the ground running with that old Pixies gem, Phillips gives “Wave Of Mutilation” (and all the other songs, for that matter) the mellow treatment to get things going. Sounding something like the oldie “Sea Of Love” with it’s lap steel guitar and sung in a smoky tenor, this is a complete reworking of this song. Yet it remains remarkably true to it’s core as to expose it even further. And if you ever had a feeling a great breezy ballad lay beneath all that Pixies heat, well, you were right. Elsewhere on the album we find him doing a close to the hip version of Echo And The Bunnymens “The Killing Moon”, giving it a lush noirish treatment , The Cure’s “Boys Don’t Cry”, which he turns into an acoustic confession just as catchy as the original, and The Churches “Under The Milky Way”, which was perfectly suited for this setting to begin with. Although here the artist adds a deep cello and simple, soft percussion to bring the song through. And it works perfectly.
But fans of more obscure cuts will find some things here as well. New Order’s “Age Of Consent” is given a lightweight but spirited acoustic rendering accompanied by soft organ and the aforementioned cello, and the Robyn Hitchcock gem “I Dream Of Trains” is given a gothic folk treatment that is a small revelation for those such as myself who are unfamiliar with Hitchcock. Which is the truly remarkable thing about this record. Whether hearing these songs for the 5000th time or the very first time as was my experience with a few cuts, they sound fresh and original. Diverse artists such as Nick Cave and REM sound perfectly fine when played one after the other or alongside a Joy Division song. So Cave’s “City Of Refuge” sounds completely appropriate as a lead in for REM’s. So. Central Rain. They indeed sound like they
belong on the same album, side by side. Grant Lee Phillips doesn’t simply cover these songs, he performs them like he
wrote them. Changing the tempo, tweaking the melody, swapping the instruments, reimagining the idea of the songs, yet keeping them intact and giving them new heart. No small feat for any songwriter.
If you are familiar with Phillips past work you will be familiar with this album. If you are familiar with any or none of these 11 excellent tracks you will be familiar with this album. Or soon would be after a few listens. From the opening pleasant surprise we get in that long ago Pixies track to the even longer ago Smiths closer (sung in a near falsetto) nineteeneighties is one of the few cover albums I’ve ever heard that manages to be honorable to the songs it is translating and yet be a remarkably original work nonetheless. Whether discovering these songs for the first time in their now quieted form or rediscovering them for the 100th time, it’s safe to say with nineteeneighties what is old is new again, and what is new is pretty damn good. Distinct, dreamy, and darkly romantic, nineteeneighties is like a soft daydream come to full vivid life in it’s acoustic soundscapes and gently rustic aura. And it’s a musical trip in time I am happy to indulge with each and every listen.
