Album Review: Steve Gunn - Time Off


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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