When you hear the hushed-yet-impassioned vocals and the feedback join together in the quietly exhilirating "Burn the Sheets Bleach the Books", you know you're in familiar territory. The music of Califone is compelling on its own resolutely unique terms. And the Tim Rutili-centered group are one of a kind still.
The new record is called The Villager's Companion and in addition to the song I just mentioned, "Every Amnesia Movie" is another clear highlight here. Both tracks seem to ride a line between down-tempo heartbreak and upbeat rock, and things remain outside of easy genre descriptions here in Califone land. Backing vocals from Nora O'Connor and Macie Stewart (Ohmme) give that opening cut a real edge too. Elsewhere, "Jaco Pastorius" is a mix of jazz-influenced patterns and bits of noise and vocals. It is, like "a blood red corduroy 3 piece suit", utterly haunting and striking. Rutili manages to take material that in other hands would devolve into simple folk-inspired indie but which in his is shaped into something more than that entirely. The tracks here on The Villager's Companion breathe and pulse with a kind of energy that may be understated at times, but which is always enthralling.
The Villager's Companion by Califone is out now. Details below.
[Photo: Travis Haight]