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Mark Kozelek is the reigning king of downer folk-rock. As auteur and frontman for San Francisco-based Red House Painters, Kozelek was responsible for some of the saddest and most beautiful music of the ‘90s. His musical style is equal parts Nick Drake and Neil Young, sprinkled with numerous other influences. His lyrical style is as often painfully confessional as it is darkly humorous.
Fans of the Red House Painters have waited patiently —literally for years— for Kozelek to resolve record label issues and release the band’s sixth full-length effort, Old Ramón. Disagreements with the band’s original label, 4AD, led to their migration to John Hughes’s label, Supreme Recordings, for the band’s fifth album, but further complications prevented Supreme from releasing the fifth.
In the meantime, Kozelek has not been idle. He organized and compiled an indie tribute to John Denver called Take Me Home, featuring brilliant interpretations of many of Denver’s songs (available on Badman Records), and he released a 7-song EP under his own name called Rock ‘N’ Roll Singer (also on Badman), which featured 3 original songs, one John Denver tune, and 3 AC/DC covers.
And now we have a full-length album, this year’s What’s Next to the Moon, a collection of 10 Bon Scott-era AC/DC tunes reinterpreted and recontextualized by Kozelek. In addition to countless brilliant original songs, Kozelek has created unique interpretations of a wide variety of songs by various artists —from The Star-Spangled Banner, to Kiss, to Yes, to The Cars, and many others— throughout his recording career. In only two cases (Simon & Garfunkel’s "I Am a Rock" and John Denver’s "Around and Around"), the songs resembled their original versions. In all other cases, Kozelek has taken the essential ingredients of the song and rearranged them to make them his own. The melody is entirely different. The tempo is, of course, slower. The chorus or recognizable refrain may be omitted entirely. A lyric may be altered here or there. These are not cover tunes, but entirely original tunes for which Kozelek is technically unable to claim writing credits.
This record is as starkly beautiful as any Red House Painters record. Quieter
and simpler than the last RedHouse Painters record, this album
sounds, for the most part, like Kozelek sitting on a stool
with his guitar and pouring out his soul through the words
of Bon Scott. Kozelek’s deft production allows every string
of the guitar to ring out with shimmering clarity and exposes
every vocal nuance.
In this era of irony, many will interpret this collection as a tongue-in-cheek send-up of 70s rock, but this reductive assessment misses the mark. Unlike recent novelty covers (Limp Bizkit’s swipe at George Michael’s "Faith" or Cake’s unnecessary rendition of "I Will Survive", for example), Kozelek’s work is a loving and respectful tribute to the originals. Bon Scott may not have been a poet, but these revisions of his collaborations with the Brothers Young (Angus and Malcolm) reveal moments of lyrical inspiration that the AC/DC context obscured. The cock-rock of a song like "Love Hungry Man" becomes a sincere statement of longing. The sleazy, lecherous strutting of "Love at First Feel" is transformed into a sincere paean to adolescent desire. Where AC/DC’s music is a fist, Kozelek’s interpretations are outstretched arms. In fact, Kozelek has transformed these tunes and allowed them to evolve so far beyond their original state that only the most astute AC/DC fans will even come close to recognizing them.
All of the songs on this record are well conceived and well executed, and the record hangs together beautifully. The title track is the strongest track on the record, and, surprisingly, it is the one that sounds the least like Kozelek. Kozelek’s vocals on this tune sound eerily like Calvin Johnson’s (Beat Happening et al), simultaneously unguarded and disaffected. The effect of this vocal delivery, combined with the lyrical content of the song, is both charming and chilling. The spooky theme of the song (best described as: "I killed my woman ‘cos she done me wrong") is one often visited by Robert Johnson, and revisited by many contemporary musicians, from Guns ‘N’ Roses to NWA. Kozelek’s take on this tune, however, strips it of its unsavory bravado to reveal a rueful and bluesy core.
Fans of Mark Kozelek may be disappointed to note that three of the songs on this record were also on last year’s Rock ‘N’ Roll Singer. However, Kozelek has even rearranged and rewritten his own arrangements, creating a whole new listening experience.
While What’s Next to the Moon may not be the best representation of Mark Kozelek’s talent (Songs for a Blue Guitar, the Red House Painters’ 1996 release, takes that honor), it is a very strong and rewarding listen, full of beautiful and memorable musical moments. It is certainly a record that longtime Red House Painters fans will embrace, but it also makes an excellent introduction to Kozelek’s impressive songwriting talent and musicianship. Best of all, it will give the artsy types and the head-bangers something to talk about (aside from their mutual funds) at your next social gathering.
-Eryc Eyl
Track Listing
- Up To My Neck In You
- Love At First Feel
- Love Hungry Man
- Bad Boy Boogie
- What's Next To The Moon
- Walk All Over You
- You Ain't Got A Hold On Me
- If You Want Blood
- Riff Raff
- Rock 'N' Roll Singer
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Mark Kozelek
