If you didn't pay close attention to the words, you'd be forgiven for thinking this was a collection of romantic love songs. However, the gentle melodies, elegant understated guitar solos and witty lyrics mask both a simmering rage and a bleak despair. The relationships Thista is singing about are mostly ones that threaten or provoke acts of violence.
Don't let Him In, for example, describes a bitter and angry final altercation between (his?) mother and father while the (I hope imaginary) scenario of N.Carolina has the artist in pursuit of a woman and her new lover with murder in mind ("I'm not one to brag or to boast, but I'm just gonna have to kill you both").
Kevin Tihista has confessed to Anglophile leanings when he comes to his influences. A love for The Smiths prompted him to throw out his Kiss albums and he lists Tears For Fears' The Hurting high amongst his favourite albums.
Alongside this, a love of mellow Stateside bands like Bread and America accounts for the peaceful easy feeling vibe which lulls the listener into a false sense of security.
There's a 'kill your idols' flavour to Jack K which features sacrilegious details such as blowing his nose on a Kerouac novel and throwing out a Bob Dylan cassette. The case for the defence offered is that society is to blame: "goddamn I hate this city for the things it drives us to do".
With no releases since 2005, Tihista had a lot of songs to choose from and he deliberately selected the most sombre ones. Ellis Clark produced his first three albums and is back on board here.
|
The record finds the Californian singer howling at the moon (Teenage Werewolf), begging for another chance (I Heard A Voice) or taking a route Morrissey at his most maudlin would endorse ("please let me sleep for the rest of my days" (In Dreams).
On the opening track - Taking It To The Streets (Again) - he confesses (albeit with tongue firmly in cheek) to being a hard man to live with. This helps explain the hard line taken by his partner: "now there's a million reasons why she is leaving, number one she hates the fact that I'm breathing".
This is a state of affairs is followed up on Bats where he can only think of one good reason to stay whereas she has two better reasons to leave.
On This Dark Street offers up the kind sophisticated pop that will appeal do cynics/realists who know instinctively that the chirpy "everything will be ok" sentiment of the final track (Country Road) is to be taken with a pinch of salt.
|
