CD Review
Peter Case
Flying Saucer Blues
(Vanguard)
Americana is a relatively new musical genre invented by the industry in an attempt to turn a certain blend of folk-country-rock music into a recognizable brand with wider appeal and increased sales potential. The name itself suggests a rootsy quality combined with an awareness of its own campiness. Americana - like Shakespeareana or Victoriana - a blast from the past. Part art, part kitsch. The opposite of today's country music, which is kitsch masquerading as something more serious and sincere, Americana is serious music masquerading as kitsch, refusing to take itself too seriously, keeping an ironic distance and a skeptical eye.
So, what is Americana? Fred Eaglesmith has always been a great exponent, taking a fierce pride in the looseness of his Flying Squirrel band (at a recent concert, Fred seemed offended by a listener's compliment that they sounded as though they'd been rehearsing) while employing a tight, sophisticated storytelling style. The now-defunct Five Chinese Brothers were another good example - combining a rockabilly sound with sophisticated subjects (their biggest hit was an intellectual spoof called "Paul Cezanne"). Then there's the unabashedly retro crowd, revelling in the old sound with a mix of pride, nostalgia and sheer joy.
Peter Case is Americana at its best, energetic & clever, combining vulnerable love songs and tongue-in-cheek romps that hint at kitsch. In "Flying Saucer Blues," Case makes fun of his troubles and sets his sights on
cloudland dreamland fairyland
Canaan Goshen Shangri-la
Elysium Arcadia
paradise, etcetera
Part of Case's appeal is the way he seasons his great intellect with plenty of self-deprecating humor. "Coulda Shoulda Woulda," shows that part of this genre is to make fun of itself. It's about as close as Case (with two co-writers) comes to Nashville:
coulda shoulda woulda zigged when I zagged
diamonds to dust riches to rags
20/20 hindsight such a drag
coulda shoulda woulda
But I find myself more drawn to Case's love songs. He keeps it simple, and yet there's just enough poetry to keep them from being ordinary:
up on Black Mountain we stood on the ledge
with our backs to the stone & our feet on the edge
to watch the world spin clouds gathering
& to wonder what years & the miles will bring
in the blue distance with you
just for a moment I nearly broke through
There are no great sentimental proclamations of love in "Blue Distance," just the moments - rendered true - that we anchor ourselves to. These moments, with their strange forebodings and intuitions are all we have. "Something Happens" is another love song that hits the mark. It's hard to explain: "I seem to know just what to do / something happens when I'm with you." It's in the word "seem" and the word "something" - it's a version of religious faith, to be in the presence of something and not presume to be able to know it.
"Walking Home Late" is another fine and memorable song - in accepting failure after the lure of Hollywood success, the singer's dingy city, the home in Memphis he has retreated to, turns around and becomes bearable, beautiful -
lights up on the river a drop of rain just fell
wet blue neon by the motor hotel
muddy water swirlin' midnight crawls
morning glories creeping up the red brick walls
There's a real gratefulness and humility in Peter Case, and in these songs it pretty much pours through.
The whole thing is produced brilliantly by Andrew Williams. It's great to see an artist come into his own and become the real thing. This one's a real winner. -HB