Premature Evaluation: Kevin Drew - Spirit If...
Kevin Drew, a/k/a Feist's boyfriend, has stepped outside the commune to release his "solo" debut Spirit If…, the first in the Broken Social Scene Presents series. It's his name on the cover – best use of unicorns since CocoRosie's Noah's Ark, natch -- but the shape shifting Torontonian doesn't seem to mind sounding like a crowd. (And we're not talking BSS…)
Excuse the following laundry list, but damn if indie-rock echoes aren't a large part of Spirit If…'s comfy charm: "TbtF"'s not only the sexiest musical initials since "O.P.P." (albeit with a more TCBY feel), the muted buoyancy's also Rather Ripped; "Safety Bricks"'s downcast, sunny strum stirs Yo La Tengo's beating hearts; the twittering, dusky "F--Ked Up Kid" feels a bit like those dudes who orchestrated Kid A (only a couple records earlier); and first single "Back Out On The..."'s central lift brings-out some Guided By Voices (and, uh, Guided By Mascis). Want younger reference points? "Underneath The Skin" – 46 seconds of drifting, plucking, purring, gurgles -- closes in on an Avey Tare side project. Not enough Canadian namedrops? "Frightening Lives"'s jagged drum-machine noir hits like caffeinated Handsome Furs or Pink Mountaintops and "Broke Me Up" is hella Feist percussive. Speaking of which, yeah, of course, despite what we said in the last graph, Spirit If… can sound like a smaller, more insulated take on Drew's other band -- heck, the record was co-produced by Broken Social Scenesters Ohad Benchetrit and Charles Spearin, and a current standout "Aging Faces/Losing Places" is co-sung, we think, with Amy Millan … or Emily Haines … or …
The countless horn swells, delicate/crushed velvet guitar parts, Krauty builds, homey studio chatter, and midnight whispers are appealing -- see the clattering, psychedelic, heavy breathing opener "Farewell To The Pressure Kids"; 7-minute rootsy, soulful, anthemic, at times Thurston conjuring "Lucky Ones" with its continual upswing, smeary group "yeah"'s and jubilant Gospel choiring; or the languid pulsations of "Bodhi Sappy Weekend." Such easy listening! During these moments, it feels like Drew has it in him to be the biggest temporary BSS expat since his gal pal … or at least to score a bunch of Wes Anderson films.
Still, we need to lodge one large-scale complaint: At more than an hour, Spirit If…'s just way too long. The shaggy-doggedness is appreciated, but there aren't the hooks or chops to fill-up the entire program. During the twanging folk-a-long album closer "When It Begins" an ad hoc boy-girl chorus let's us know, "It's going to be really hard when we get to the end." Well, yeah, endings are often hard, it's just that this particular finale's kind of difficult to locate in the first place. We kid! (Actually, we don't: Even that last track breaks in two toward a distorted, twittering baroque-instrumental exeunt…)
Nitpicking aside, it'll be great hearing Spirit If… in the flesh at McCarren Pool on August 29th. If the weather's nice, the song selection right, maybe we can recreate "1, 2, 3, 4." Or at least that video for "Back Out On The…"
In case it's eluded you, this tune's too beautiful to fucking pass up.
Kevin Drew - "Tbtf" (MP3)
And head to Kevin's MySpace for a listen of b-side "Cocaine Skin." Spirit If... is out 9/18 via Arts & Crafts.
Posted at 11:34 AM in MP3, Premature Evaluation, Video
Tags: Broken Social Scene | Kevin Drew
Wow! How much did Tag Team Media pay you guys for that ass-kissing?
Kevin Drew = the biggest prick in the world
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Wow, Sara T., how long 'til that bug in your ass dies?
Sara T = catty industry dork
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Wait, did you read the paragraph that begins "still, we need to lodge one large-scale complaint..."?
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...because that doesn't seem much like "ass-kissing" to me.
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this album is amazing
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Huge BSS fan here--I think this record is pretty good, but ultimately exactly what i expected. Canning and Kevin Drew really do counter-balance each other nicely, something that wasn't apparent to me until this solo excursion. Something tells me taking the best of Spirit If and Canning's volume will produce something akin to BSS LP4 (or LP3 if you don't count Feel Good Lost).
So yeah, it's a nice little record, but internal squabbling clearly took down an awesome band that hopefully will reunite in full and make another BSS/You Forgot It in People. And yes I'm jealous of Kevin banging Feist. drool
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feist's boyfriend? ah man...
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i like the part about the new go! team album leaking.
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Good review. Mine here:
http://mybigmouthstrikesagain.blogspot.com/2007/07/my-big-album-review-strikes-again-bss.html
Hmmmmmm.
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feist is pug fugly. really.
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if by pug fugly you mean lovely, i agree.
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Feist is a strange girl, physically - sometimes she's Audrey Hepburn pretty... sometimes she's not. Gimme Emily Haines anytime.
And this album by Drew? Eh. I'd rather listen to the children's book the cover art is entirely influenced by.
And if it needs to be repeated - Pinback's upcoming disc gets two devil horns! Rrrrrrawk!
DwD
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I wish he would go back to making more Feel Good Lost-esque music... this is okay too though. Gang Bang Suicide is my favorite on the album I think. I haven't listened to it much yet though.
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Basically sounds like a mellow BSS album. Which is fine by me. Tbtf is amazing.
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Everything I've heard of this album is great.
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Everything I've heard off this album is great - it's just as good as any Broken Social Scene album.
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i wouldn't say it's as good as any BSS album...it's like an okay BSS album. too one sided and too long.
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where is our Widow City evaluation? c'mon guys. get on that shit.
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Gang Bang Suicide is amazing. Great lyrics and a solid build up towards the end. Same song structure as "It's All Gonna Break."
Not as good as "Broken Social Scene" or "You Forgot it in People" but still a brilliant album.
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Where is the Rilo Kiley evaluation?
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This record gets way better after repeated listens. I can't count how many times I've listened to it now; it's really great.
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Yay; I will see you at McCarren!
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Oh, and yes, at McCarren, we will be recreating "1, 2, 3, 4", there is no question about it.
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