It's been more than three decades since "Car Wash Hair", folks. And while some of the people who were in Mercury Rev back in 1991 are still in Mercury Rev, the sound is quite different. For a band who's changed their sound substantially more than once, what's another go round?
Born Horses, the newest Mercury Rev album, finds yet another iteration of this outfit birthing itself. Largely spoken word pieces by Jonathan Donahue with music by Grasshopper and crew, this Bella Union release is one of this month's most perplexing offerings. Challenging? Yeah, of course it is. Pleasureable? Well, what's your defintion of "pleasure"?
On "Mood Swings" and other pieces here, Donahue's voice carries us through landscapes familiar and haunting. This is not quite this group's An American Dream, but I wouldn't have been entirely surprised if I'd heard "Ghosts crowd the child's fragile eggshell mind", you know? The instrumentation here is, frankly, more interesting than the vocals. "Your Hammer, My Heart" finds the backing circling around in a sort of John Barry-ish pattern, with snatches of jazz horn punctuacting the mood. Elsewhere, "Patterns" has vocals which made me think of recent Half Japanese records, with the sincerity in Donahue's delivery met with tinkling keys and percussive hits behind him. "A Bird of No Address", the standout track here, at least builds up some genuine steam, as the music swells and cranks up behind Jonathan's impassioned vocal yearnings.
There's the hint of a big music here in Born Horses, but ultimately this is not an album I'll return to very much. I sort of respect it more than like it. The intentions to create something magical were clearly there, and there's a certain uniqueness to this material that does earn a listener's attention. Still, a little goes a long way, and this Mercury Rev album, while a vibe of its own, isn't one so easily consumed. Still, Born Horses demands attention, and at least rewards that demand on a certain level.
Born Horses by Mercury Rev is out this week on Bella Union.
[Photo: Mercury Rev]