By: Martyn Coppack
Shearwater | website | facebook | twitter |
One of the great pleasures of listening to Shearwater is that you never know quite what to expect. Purveyors of a fine Americana, they never quite fit into any bracket and tread a path very similar to Of Montreal in that every album offers something different. Of course, for a band who formed as an offshoot of Okkervil River, another important band in the history of American indie, things were never going to be quite as plain and simple and they soon moved from their remit of quieter songs to the altogether more rock orientated Animal Joy, their first for Sub Pop. They then followed this with an album of covers as if to stop any familiarity gaining.
Now comes Jet Plane And Oxbow and where Shearwater used to lift off during some of their songs, here they simply soar all the way through. It’s the equivalent of when you feel your gut grabbed by some joyous exclamation, only this time you don’t come down. This is the sound of a band who have hit such a level of confidence as a unit that they feel they can turn their hand to anything now and the sheer exuberance shimmers off this record. On top of this they have released what can only be described as their pop record although be careful in your expectation of pop here as this is more akin to the postcard indie groups of the 80’s rather than any machine operated multi-million sales behemoth. This is pop with heart. Lots of heart.
The album actually starts on something of a down note with ‘Prime’ sort of meandering in with only glimpses of what may lay in store. To follow this with the jerky ‘Quiet Americans’ which sounds unlike anything they have recorded before, never mind on this album, is a brave yet perfect move as the song expands from into a full cinematic experience.
It is this feeling of the cinematic that stays with you from now on albeit with a very intimate glow. Shearwater’s music fills the room but it is the homely vocals of Jonathan Meiburg which cast a comfortable glow and positively invite you into its warmth. There are no ulterior motives and everything is open for discussion.
One of the highlights of this almost perfect record is the throbbing bass which underpins all these songs. Acting as a grounding point for the rest of the music to fly off, it comes to the fore on ‘Backchannels’ as it leads us down the rabbit hole. Much like REM used to play with melodic structures and turn a song on its head with a single note, Shearwater do the same through their rhythm section. It’s testament to the syncopation of the band that they don’t let this overload the songs and a certain appreciation of each others playing makes a song such as ‘Only Child’ or the explosive ‘Glass Bones’ so encased in it’s own little world with no chance of drifting off.
This urgent energy coupled with Meiburg’s vocals make for an intriguing mix but also when they get a chance to slow down make a song like ‘Wildlife in America’ painstakingly beautiful. This is music from the heartland of America and carries the weight of a legendary history behind it. Shearwater never once falter and stay completely true through this quite wonderful album. Emotional, exciting and simply beautiful, Jet Plane And Oxbow may yet be regarded as their classic. Miss this at your peril.
