After spending the better part of the last year touring with
Kurt Vile as a member of his backing band, Violators, guitarist/vocalist Steve Gunn has
emerged with one of the better, more unique records to pop up in this already
strong music year. His somewhat
ironically titled Time Off (presumably made during the time after he had
fulfilled his other commitments) is a low-key stunner, a rather diverse
collection of tunes that covers substantial ground in a short span of time.
Like Kurt Vile, Gunn mostly sticks to a folksy
musical style. However, he eschews
Vile’s penchant for layered, dream-like psychedelia for a more straightforward
approach, leading a trio through mostly acoustic-based material and occasionally employing stabs of electric guitar. his works largely to Time Off’s benefit, however, giving the
songs a plaintiveness they might have lacked otherwise.
This atmosphere also helps lend credence to the themes of Time
Off, which, aside from the sly joke about when it was made, really deals
with getaways, brief times when one can break free for a bit. “The water wheel’s constant turn, open views
and days turn burn,” from album opener “Water Wheel,” succinctly provides Gunn’s mission
statement . In fact, succinct
is a key word to describe Time Off; the record is only six songs
long. However, none of the songs are shorter than
five minutes, and each makes an impact during their extended duration.
“Water Wheel” is a highlight, with a musical push and pull
that visualizes the endless churn of water passing through the title
object. Gunn and his backing band are
absolutely tight here, as they are on the rest of the record, understanding and
sympathetic to one another and to the song itself. Gunn’s voice is appropriately
subdued, often mixed a bit further back than the instruments, but still a key
ingredient.
Time Off is peppered with strong material, from the
melancholia of “Lurker” and “Old Strange” to the droning, yet propulsive “Street
Keeper” (the album’s best track). “New Decline” is the record’s most straightforward song, a blues workout
given muscle by a swaying drumbeat and bass line, enlivened throughout by Gunn’s
virtuosic slide guitar, which here lets rip one of the record's rare guitar solos. “Trailways Ramble,” the closing track, will
probably be the most divisive: a nearly nine minute instrumental workout riding
on an endless riff. While it artfully provides the image of a train endlessly
rolling, it quickly becomes tedious, and the long running time doesn’t help.
Still, five out of six songs is a pretty great hit-to-miss
ratio. Time Off proves itself to
be an idiosyncratic record, unlike most indie folk or pop or anything released this year. In a year of similar
records like Wakin On A Pretty Daze or Phosphorescent, Time
Off distinguishes itself as a sparer, yet more resonant (and better
sounding; Gunn and his compatriots are consummate musicians) record than either
of those admittedly strong efforts. Steve Gunn definitely did something productive with his time off this
year.
Grade: A
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