THE JAYHAWKS
Sound Of Lies (American, 1997)
I just found this review from a magazine that I helped launch many moons ago. It sums up perfectly my views on The Jayhawks’ lost masterpiece Sound Of Lies. It’s written by Ginger (the leader of the band The Wildhearts) and can be found in its original form here:
http://www.classicrockmagazine.com/news/ginger%E2%80%99s-secret-history-of-rock%E2%80%99n%E2%80%99roll-pt-11/
Purveyors of fine, off kilter Americana, The Jayhawks delivered four albums of folk tinged alt-country before founding member Mark Olson would call it a day, leaving founder partner Gary Louris to gather in the slack.
Formed in Minneapolis in 1985, the band released five albums, between 1989 and 2000, on the American Recordings label, which featured 1992’s critically acclaimed ‘American Town Hall’ (Sic: clearly meant to say Hollywood Town Hall) and the stunning ‘Tomorrow The Green Grass’ in ‘95. Leaning heavily on Gram Parsons unorthodox time signatures and The Byrds harmonies, usually with simple Hank Williams sensibilities, the band built an instantly identifiable sound namely through the twin vocal approach of Olson and Louris.
With Olson’s bizarre lyrics and Louris’ wayward guitar style, the band would lean towards Neil Young with far more weight than, say, The Eagles, placing them in a unique, and slightly jarring place for an American public weaned on a much more restrained form of Country rock.
The Olson/Louris attack is captured in peak form on the aforementioned ‘Tomorrow The Green Grass’, scoring The Jayhawks a minor hit with the astoundingly brilliant ‘Blue’ (check it out, and buy this album too, seriously!), setting up the band for as sure-fire a bullseye as they’d reached to date.
And while most bands would wilt, or, at the very least appear creatively wounded in the face of the main songwriter leaving the team, The Jayhawks, and in particular Gary Louris, instead did something inspiringly uncommon and massively impressive. They poured every one of their musical influences into one huge golden vat and recorded not only the greatest album of their lives, but one the the best albums of 90s.
Where previous releases had stayed sonically within a traditional rootsy comfort zone, ‘Sound Of Lies’ comes on like a psychedelic mash of The Beatles, ELO and Brian Wilson, all downed with a double shot of sweet country harmonies. The results are as absolutely thrilling as American roots music is able to thrill, with huge washes of gloriously over the top orchestration wrapped up in a sumptuous production, courtesy of Brian Paulson (Wilco, Beck) and The Jayhawks themselves. And as vanity projects go, very few have ever scaled the dizzying heights of this grand entry into classic American rock.
Subtly setting a scene with the opening bars of ‘The Man Who Loved Life‘ the album’s first track then begins to soar and twist into majestic baroque pop/rock at one turn and Beach Boys harmony overload at another, as unexpected as it is amazing. Gary Louris voice, alone and naked without Olson, is a thing of rare beauty with the power to drag tears from the most stony of disposition. And as the song effortlessly compounds melodies atop melodies, and chorus upon chorus, you know you’re in for a very special treat in ‘Sound Of Lies’.
The same grand quality carries on with ‘Think About It’, while Louris’ songwriting mastery continues to throw faintly familiar refrains through ‘Trouble’ and ‘It’s Up To You’, his voice perfectly matched by the heavenly harmonies of Karen Grotberg.
It’s fairly impossible to pick out highlights from an album of highlights but the folksy swing and lifting chorus ‘Stick In The Mud’ deserves particular mention. Heart-wrenching harmonies continue to float around the head in gossamer winged fancy as Louris’ voice delicately delivers yet another swoonsome verse. (This song's chord progression is also eerily similar to Richard Thompson's 'The Cavalry Cross'-Ed.)
‘Big Star’ gives those gnarly Jayhawks guitars release from their quiet confinement, but loses none of the melody in the process, while ‘Poor Little Fish’ sways with such a delicate air that it leaves the listener feeling as if the ground is about to leave them to float into the almost impossibly serene, and alarmingly close vocal track.
Please believe me when I say that such a collection of songs, so haunting and beautiful, is a rare and quite otherworldly pleasure.
‘Sixteen Down’ sounds almost pedestrian in it’s simplicity, allowing an element of ‘I knew they couldn’t keep up this standard’ cynicism to pepper proceedings – that is, of course, until THAT chorus hits you and those hairs are standing up on every follicly disposed inch of skin. Man, it’s relentless. Just when the heart has been given a chance to readjust to normality, The Jayhawks reach out and tug the strings leaving the listener a quivering wreck of aching bliss.
Surely they must be running out of steam by now? A timely cessation in the wonderment?
Not a chance!
‘Haywire’ is next, and is a colossal piece of work, laid back of verse and gigantic of chorus, Pink Floyd-style gospel carries the charging refrain as this awesome band hit stratospheric emotional overdrive. My God man, how much goodness is it possible to ingest?
‘Dying On The Vine’ answers the question with another slab of prime divinity and the meal is not over. A hypnotic dance-based groove creates a foundation for yet another huge chorus, as the listener is, once again, left as helpless to resist as a mouse to a hawk, except that this hawk has hooks in place of talons.
It’s down to ‘Bottomless Cup’ to ink the deal as done as acoustic loveliness co-creates a bed of sweet melodic joy, and leaves the final song, ‘The Sound Of Lies’ to sign off, laying the listener down with a gentle lullaby and thanking you for sharing this wonderful 55 minutes.
Rarely in the entire history of American rock has music been so expertly performed, masterfully composed and deftly produced as this. And in a world where, say, Nickleback sell in excess of 2,000,000 copies of whatever their latest album is called it’s worth noting that Sound Of Lies is now, sadly, out of print.
It’s a strange world but one that is made just that little bit more bearable with timeless music. And sometimes it’s music the world forgot that helps make sense of this crazy place.
‘Sound Of Lies’ is as timeless as joy itself. An album that bares up to repeated listens providing euphoria with each spin.
In fact, an album worth returning to every time you buy a substandard example of the media and public getting all fired up about the emperor’s next new outfit.
Lovers of quality, melodic country based pop songwriting with a rock twist do yourself a big, big favour and pick up ‘Sound Of Lies’ immediately – if only to remind yourself what the truth really sounds like.
