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Another review, don’t think this ones been here before. Hopefully the North American reviews are catching up to all the great European reviews/interviews…would be cool
J Mascis + The Fog – Free So Free
2002 Ultimatum Music
ULT66852J Mascis has always been good balm for a broken heart. Whether it’s when your college freshman girlfriend dumps you or when the Republicans unexpectedly gain complete control of the government, his music has always brought comfort and catharsis.
His new solo album, Free So Free, is a contemplation of liberty and loss, truth and friendship and is his most potent work in a decade. Mascis wrote it as a concept album based on his new passion for skydiving. While concept albums are generally remembered as the thankfully extinct excesses of bloated ’70s prog-rockers, this one works.
Mascis uses skydiving as a metaphor for life itself? The fear, the danger, the fleeting thrill, the excitement followed by an aching desire to return to a state of soaring liberty. It turns out that the concept works nicely as a metaphor for life itself. In our own way, each morning we stand with our feet on the edge of the plane door. Mascis talks about what happens once you let go and give yourself to the air.
Unlike most of his post-Where You Been work, Mascis has his songwriting down this time. The lyrics contain some of the same world-weariness of his earlier work, but it seems more meditative, reflective and less pathetic. The themes include freedom and truth: the truth of freedom, the freedom truth brings, and how all of that relates to the concept of friendship.
"Set us free this time," he says in one song. "I want to be free, so free," he says in another. In the song "Someone Said," Mascis repeats the line "Someone said my freedom’s gone," his voice creaking like an old wooden
floor over a soaring Nick Drake backdrop.Mascis has finally brought his quirky sensibilities into balance. He’s got all the parts working together this time. "Set us Free" is reminiscent of his soundtrack work. The quasi-funk bits, the nearly bluegrass parts, the punk rock passages and the lilting acoustic folk runs all fit nicely, without sounding forced.
Of course, he can still squeeze off a perfect guitar solo like most people breathe. With ringing chords behind fluid runs, his status as a post-punk guitar god is safe.
The album isn’t perfect. "Bobbin" is a little too cutesy T-Rex. "Tell The Truth" is a little too much like "Saturday’s Alright for Fighting." But freedom doesn’t come without risk, and the ride down is definitely worth the occasional bump.
—Brian J. Bowe
November 2002
© 2003 CREEM MEDIA, INC.nice review, haven’t seen it before
many skydiving metaphors there (… but not even that bad ones) :aliensmile:
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