There's something noticeably absent from Califone's new album, Quicksand/Cradlesnakes: Brian Deck. Deck has been a part of Califone on all their previous albums, playing various instruments, writing a song or two, and even more importantly he has recorded most of the past three releases. It's because Deck's sound as a producer is so unique that Issac Brock sought him out to produce not only his Ugly Casanova record, but also Modest Mouse's The Moon and Antarctica. He has a way of taking all kinds of disparate sounds and turning them into a cohesive work that does not seemed forced. Under Deck's control Califone's broken baroque sounds as if everything were conceived at the same time, as if the bag of nails, and cinder block being drug across the floor were developed right alongside the guitar part.
As a result of Deck's absence from Quicksand/Cradlesnakes, it sounds less structured, and works more as a collection of songs, rather than a complete album. That's not to say this is a bad album, or that it would ever be mistaken for anything other than a Califone record. Everything else is there, the buzzing wires, the loose percussion played out on various objects, and Tim Rutili‚s rough, deep voice singing non sequiturs. And the songs themselves are great. In fact, these are probably the most accessible of Califone's songs, especially 'Vampiring Again' which is a surprisingly Wilco-esque pop song. Tim Rutili is one of the few people who can make lyrics like 'silver harm sugar hands drunken hive/amputated years are growing back a new shade' sound heartbreaking and poignant.
The album is no great loss for fans of the band, but it is frustrating to hear the potential in the record. Hearing the songs live, it's especially obvious that the album just doesn't sound right. So the question is, where the hell is Brian Deck? |