Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

Badly Drawn Boy releases gem of indie-rock soulsearching \

Badly Drawn Boy, a.k.a. Damon Gough, has made an outstanding album with his debut The Hour of Bewilderbeast, but it’s as if he doesn’t want you to know it. Like splashing paint on the Mona Lisa causing onlookers to twist and squint to catch a glimpse of the beauty behind the mess, this album uses a variety of smokescreens to mask its brilliance. Everything from a bloated track list and running time to off-putting production methods act like a cloud that Gough’s beams of melody and songwriting skills are trying to shine through. Even the portrait of the artist is one of mystery, as he is usually seen sporting a rugged beard and a never-removed knit cap. Like Kurt Cobain’s fear of being seen as some overblown rock god, Badly Drawn Boy’s quiet, introverted appearance and method of presentation for his talent happily put blanket after blanket over his pop sense, ensuring its a treasure that is quested for and found, rather than put on garish display.

But occasionally Gough lets himself go and throws out a straight pop song free of all the chains that would hold it back. The excellent “Once Around the Block” is such a song. An eloquent love song analyzing the rights and wrongs on both sides of a relationship, it’s not hard to find quotes from the mesmerizing poetry. “Now I see the vision through your eyes/ Your innocence no longer fuels surprise.” As melancholy as the lyrics may be at times, the feel is definitely optimistic and even gives way to some “doo be da” scatting at the end. He’s sure not to let things get too out of hand, however, opting (as in “Smells Like Teen Spirit”) to play his vocal line rather than a guitar solo and coaxing some carefully clumsy sounds out of a vibraphone, ensuring that if radio does get a hold of the song they’ll be scratching their heads to figure out what the hell is that sound.

“Once Around the Block” is a lot like one of the blown-up photos in the booklet. All of the photos inside the booklet are magnified versions of pieces of the collage that graces the cover. The cover photo is a super-detailed hodgepodge of old records, candles, old photos, and other knick knacks. When Gough zooms in and there’s nothing to hear but the song, gems like “Once Around the Block” and “This Song” are revealed. Much of the time though, there are so many instruments (a great number played by Gough himself) and rhythm changes that it’s hard to establish a groove to nestle into, and it’s easy to feel disoriented and unsatisfying. Why does “Fall in a River” have to sound like it’s coming from underwater and then stop abruptly for the sound of what is probably someone actually falling in a river? Why does “This Song,” with its beautiful lyrics, have to be distorted and annoying?

These are questions one might find themselves asking, and while repeated listenings of the disc cure almost all ails, some aspects remain grating. But the variety really is a virtue, and keeps the material fresh. After all, this nit-picking is done mostly to find some sort of fault with a masterpiece of an album, one that keeps getting better as time goes on. Slow, wounded ballads like “The Shining” are even more convincing with a french horn and a cello, aspects of the musicianship throughout the record that is unimpeachable and stands as tall as Gough’s lyrics; no easy task. The guitar-driven, faster rock songs “Everybody’s Stalking” and “Disillusion” are among the most enduring, don’t rock for change’s sake, they do so with purpose. “Disillusion” is simply jubilant with handclapping and a friendly riff, while “Everybody’s Stalking” can’t quite decide whether it’s a tongue-in-cheek stalker fantasy like Iron Maiden’s “Prowler” or a roundabout love song.

Either way, it’s amazing. Gough is clearly living and breathing music, and The Hour of Bewilderbeast is a brush with his talent that should be appreciated, not only by fans but the music community at large, especially popular music currently that now more than ever needs a serious musician to shake its hollow bones. Badly Drawn Boy is like the stalker in “Everybody’s Stalking,” following the popular music scene closely, ready to inject some life and meaning, since “Baby all I need/ you need too/ Don’t wait for me/ i’ll wait for you.”

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