Review Summary: Goodbye Melody Mountain is the 'Royale with Cheese' of post rock in 2008.
Firstly, I just want to say that The Samuel Jackson Five have probably the best band name in post rock right now. And, for post rock, that’s saying a lot. But if you took the two pieces of the name apart, Samuel L. Jackson and The Jackson Five, what would you actually get? You’d get exactly what The Samuel Jackson Five give. A *** load of character and some hella good songs. That’s not at all to say that they’ll blow their lungs out singing fantastic pop tunes while dealing with some mother***ing snakes on a mother***ing plane. No, SJF aren’t like that. They handle instrumental music and are probably dedicated vegans. What they will do, however, is blow you away with some killer, inspirational songwriting and that is exactly what they have done with ‘Goodbye Melody Mountain’, the only truly great album to sprout from a post rock vet’s conception this year.
And I would certainly class The Samuel Jackson Five as a post rock vet. While not quite as popular as the sacred Explosions and Godspeeds of the world, SJF have been around the instrumental rock circuit twice over now, quietly gathering an army of fans with their unique brand of groove-based, melody-heavy post rock, receiving widespread critical acclaim along the way. ‘Goodbye Melody Mountain’ is the band’s third full length, and sees them take their unspoilt formula, expand upon it, and even add to it with potentially hazardous new elements. What these guys understand is that music will never sit in one place, happy to pander to the needs of itself. No, it is in a state of perpetual motion. Bands are forever trying new things, experimenting with new sounds, desperate to catch that perfect note which best captures the moment or mood. Foolish are the self-indulgent bands which sit back and watch as their genre passes them by, content to play the music which festers in their shallow comfort zone. A band must take risks, experiment, observe and examine the competition if they are to progress and evolve. Use your experience to your advantage by merging old styles with new ones. The band’s decision to not play it safe but instead play it by ear is the chief reason for why they can be seen as one of the few remaining old hands of post rock, leading out a pack of old timers too arrogant and egotistical to change their sound for the sake of changing times.
Don’t get me wrong, The Samuel Jackson Five haven’t reinvented the wheel, they’re not destined to become the grandfathers of a new genre of ‘post-music’. In fact, they have mostly kept to their own original style. Back in 03, though, they
were one of those bands which were transforming post rock. They did it their own way, and since then have never looked back. Luckily, they haven’t lost their forward-thinking mindset. What they have changed up in ‘Goodbye Melody Mountain’ as opposed to previous efforts is a much higher consideration for songwriting and production. While ‘Easily Misunderstood’ certainly made the band known for writing ridiculously strong melodies and using instrumentation in new and exciting ways, there was occasionally too much of a concern for the dynamics, the traditional quiet-loud formula was well executed but was rinsed through by the end of the album. ‘Goodbye Melody Mountain’ sees the band maturing to great heights, rarely ever squeezing out that tired technique, but instead writing intense, emotional songs which still allow space for some spectacular transitioning and unpredictable but gripping twists and turns.
The band open things up with a statement of intent in ‘Face The Fax’. Through the opener’s purposeful scurrying of horns and twang-tinged guitars, chopping and changing phases, it would appear SJF back and as good as ever, but they’ve added to their arsenal with stronger melodies and more inventive song structure. ‘Eye Eat Lotus’ skips along with several satisfying guitar melodies, hand in hand with cymbal-heavy drums, building slowly but surely but just when the song seems ready to enter pre-climax, the song drops and drums introduce some spirited horns, giving the song a new, jauntier attitude, especially when combined with the playful guitars. The pensive ‘Hey Now, Who Really Cares?’ meditates with some thoughtful piano work before bursting into a loud section with those classic shimmering post rock guitars we all know and love, but again, the song restrains itself, drops off and simply uses those guitars as a backdrop to the original melody. The song wanders in and out of different phases, occasionally returning to worlds previously visited, but always shifting from one to the other with wonderfully controlled and interesting transitions.
They aren’t wholly reliant on these shifts to create great songs though. ‘After The Avalanche’ is a poignantly simple track, a solemn acoustic guitar plays out until joined by consulate violins. The track lasts less than a couple minutes, no crazy shifts, no epic climax, no trick up it’s sleeve of any kind. But that does not mean it should be looked at as filler. It is surprisingly emotive and one of my favourite tracks and, along with the charming ‘Goodbye Melody Mountain’, is necessary for allowing the quick-paced album time to breathe. There isn’t really a bad track on the album; ‘So Many Cowboys, So Few Indians’ begins menacingly but wanders into a more progressive world with a strong focus on the interrelations of the two guitars, which makes for a more complex, rewarding listen. In the end, it is one of the few songs that does end up on a climax, but it is not simply for the anticipation effect as nothing was built up, but instead perfectly fits the ending of the song as a release of pent-up emotion. The only track that disappointed me really was ‘Slow Motion Simulator’. It’s a pretty little track but it drags it’s heels along like a guy that’s out wandering the streets at 3am, brooding over something philosophical, but not really knowing what it is. The transition on the minute mark is odd and unfitting of the track, and the song ends up meandering aimlessly to the point of tedium. But that this is the only weak track on the album is proof of ‘Goodbye Melody Mountain’s greatness.
Finishing on the mystical, memorable ‘How to Evade Your Obsessive Shadow’, I knew even from the first listen that this was something special. It’s not easy to warm to, it took a few listens of ‘Goodbye Melody Mountain’ to really learn to enjoy it. I certainly wouldn’t label it immediately accessible. It’s too sophisticated, too subtle, too smart for that. But give it the time and attention it deserves, and I guarantee that you will reap the rewards. For one of the few bands that doesn’t throw their toys out of the pram when labelled ‘post rock’, The Samuel Jackson Five are changing the way people hear and look at the genre, and ‘Goodbye Melody Mountain’ is enough evidence for me to elect them as the band to lead the genre forward.
This Message Edited On 11.11.08
