Greg Graffin's second solo effort came out last week,
Cold as the Clay, on Epitaph Records. It's got nothing in common with 1997's stellar
American Lesion, so don't even try to compare them. In fact, you'll probably enjoy
Cold as the Clay more if you haven't heard the
American Lesion album.
American Lesion was released as a self-titled album from a band called American Lesion. American Lesion was primarily Graffin--he did all the songwriting, and if I'm not mistaken, played almost all the instruments himself. Its recording coinciding with a divorce, the product was a fairly personal cd full of stripped-down, folk-ish tunes from the guy most commonly known as Bad Religion's frontman.
Cold as the Clay has Graffin's name on it, yet it was recorded by Graffin and a group of professional musicians. What American Lesion may have lacked in professionalism, this one has. And whether it's a fair trade for the personal quality of
American Lesion, that's for the listener to decide.
While musically
American Lesion bears some resemblence to half (five exactly) of the songs on
Cold as the Clay,
Cold as the Clay just isn't the same kind of album. The other six tracks are closer to what Springsteen did on the
Seeger Sessions. The breakdown goes like this:
1. Don't Be Afraid to Run - Graffin
2. Omie Wise - traditional
3. Cold as the Clay - Graffin
4. Little Sadie - traditional
5. Highway - Graffin
6. Rebel's Goodbye - Graffin
7. Talk About Suffering - traditional
8. Willie Moore - traditional
9. California Cotton Fields - this song is technically the odd one out: Dallas Frazier & Earl Montgomery
10. The Watchmaker's Dial - Graffin
11. One More Hill - traditional
The traditionals sound less inspired. Or maybe not less inspired, but there's something missing. Graffin is a master wordsmith/guy with a big vocabulary--"graduated mentors stroll in marbled brick porticos/in sagacious dialog they despise their average ways,"anyone? (Bad Religion, "Inner Logic")--, so perhaps the older songs lack the lyrical complexities when they tell their stories. Conversely, songs like "Highway" and "The Watchmaker's Dial" don't really tell the straightforward stories of "Omie Wise" or "Little Sadie." This doesn't mean that Graffin's songs are better songs. They're different kinds of songs. "California Cotton Fields," which feels like the one traditional track where Graffin's voice actually belongs between Jolie Holland's harmony and David Bragger's banjo, sounds great until "The Watchmaker's Dial" starts, where it pales in comparison. "Highway" and "Little Sadie" sound (to the self-confessed amateur music-listener) similar, but the vocals sound like Graffin has a better handle on the phrasing then he does with "Little Sadie," as if he needs the extra syllables to get his point across. "One More Hill" is almost an exception, but in certain parts when the guitar strumming comes in, the combination of music and words feel awkward.
In the liner notes, Graffin prefaces the album with an explaination of what he was trying to accomplish. This isn't too different from what he said when he put out
American Lesion. Back then, he also mentioned his folk roots, and that this was the sort of sound he was trying to achieve rather than make a solo album that sounded like Bad Religion outtakes. "The modern songs are inspired by my love of country rock in the vein of Gram Parsons, The Band, and Neil Young; all of which have, at one time or another, influenced BR songs. The traditional arrangements are faithful reporductions of the styles and instrumentation found on early recordings."
American Lesion didn't include any traditional arrangements, and fits the description of the modern songs on
Cold as the Clay. The problem is, from Woody Guthrie to the Weavers to Bob Dylan and others, up to Springsteen's
Seeger Sessions, it's assumed that folk music will include an element of change. Woody Guthrie took old melodies from the Carter family, traditionals, and hymns, wrote new words, and made his own songs out of them. Furthermore, "So Long, It's Been Good to Know You" had nothing to do with the Dust Bowl when The Weavers did it. In "Pay Me My Money Down," Springsteen adds a line, "I wish I was Mr. Gates." In non-folk outlets, it is generally agreed that the mark of a good cover song is that the band makes it their own (and doesn't butcher it in the process, of course. Rob Zombie made "Blitzkreig Bop" very much his own on that Ramones tribute album, and that song couldn't have sounded worse).
Cold as the Clay ends up with an interesting pair of split personalities as a result. If Graffin had tried to make the traditionals his own, rather than try to mimic the old style, they might be stronger tracks. "Don't Be Afraid to Run" and "The Watchmaker's Dial" are very strong musically, the lyrics are sung with confidence, and, as a result, they're easily the best songs on the album.
Fortunatly, none of them are close to the kind of folk-punk (I hate to use the word "revival," but there doesn't seem to be another way to set it apart from Billy Bragg) of the Filthy Thieving Bastards, Defiance, Ohio, or the stuff Against Me! (used to) play. It doesn't follow a gimmic, and after a few listens, it turns out to be quite a good album.
"Don't Be Afraid to Run" and "Talk About Suffering" can be downloaded, and the liner notes read in full, at the
Epitaph Records site.-iwasbored
