Perhaps you can remember the Ford commercials — the ones with Phil Mickelson rocking awkwardly from foot to foot saying, "What will Phil do next?" In Mr. Mickelson's case, he pulled driver on the 72nd hole of the U.S. Open and took a double bogey — that's what Phil did next. Well, in some cases, musicians are faced with the same question. Some albums leave the listener hanging as to what the musician will do next. Kevin Devine is one of those artists, and his new album Put Your Ghost to Rest is one of those albums.
Despite being dubbed one of the "Bands You Need to Know in 2004" by the Alternative Press Magazine, Kevin Devine & The Goddamn Band have gone largely unnoticed by mainstream American music scenes. Critical acclaim of their 2005 release, Split the Country, Split the Street, could only garner mediocre sales.
Fast-forward two years to 2006. Devine now has a major record label contract with Capitol Records, has toured with platinum recording artists and has a new album out.
Put Your Ghost to Rest is Devine's first creation with a major producer, and after working with Rob Schnapf (Elliott Smith, Beck, The Vines), the release has a much stronger central force to it. In an interview with The Badger Herald, Devine credited this continuity and strength to the trust he developed in the preliminary sessions with Schnapf.
The added studio time and money have manifested themselves in the sonic maturation of Devine on the new album. With his thin, sometimes raspy voice and straightforward melodies, Devine is a classic example of a musician whose end product is greater than the sum of its parts.
"I know I don't have the greatest voice, I'm not the best guitar player, I'm not the best writer, but they all come from the same place so they just fit together," Devine said.
The last self-proclaimed flaw, however, is far from the truth. Devine has a masterful command of his words, and his clever lyrics echo those of a poet, unlike the typical musician's lyricism. Each song reads like a postmodern narrative, taking the listener through various scenes that Devine creates. The very-aware writer takes on issues ranging from friends and love to New York Transit strikes, government and the depths of drug abuse. With the exception of the strike, all of these topics have been rehashed ad nauseam by dime-a-dozen musicians of the past. What makes Devine's take on these topics unique is a combination of his poetic imagery and conflicting musical backings. Never do the sorrowful lyrics overlap with a sorrowful guitar or rhythm. This schism in the lyrics and the music avoid the sappy and melodramatic tracks that many of his contemporaries fall victim to. Despite his social commentaries, Devine avoids the preachy Springsteen syndrome with the same techniques. His emotion-packed delivery will have even opposing sides cheering obliviously.
"Just Stay" is an incredibly moving song about the depths of drug use. The highest point of the album describes the lowest parts of life and society as it progresses from a drug deal to the bender night and the morning after. The desperation of the user is vivid in Devine's words, "So here we go again, inside your neon shrine/ Sharing a chopping block, beneath embarrassed light that tries to hide from us, it tucks itself away/ So we both grab hold and say no you don't/ Just stay, just stay." As the man begins to realize what he is doing to himself, the music carries a steady crescendo to smash home the lyrics.
Another dark portrait comes in the song "Brooklyn Boy," where Devine's pen sets the scene with fantastic imagery: "Your silver tongue it masks your hungry hate/ While your haggard heart whispers through its cracking cage/ You still can change, you have to know, you still can change/ I know, I know, for now I wanna be this way/ This was a choice, this was never a mistake."
Not all is seething in pain on Devine's album, however. The lighthearted ode "Trouble" is another high point for the album, and stands in stark contrast to "Just Stay, Just Stay" with its playful lyrics. Any song that can refer to drinking, an Irish bride and Amy Goodman in the same breath is the work of a master craftsman.
One of the album's strengths is the ability of Devine to channel his influences through his own voice. He is able to borrow from others while maintaining a sound that is distinctly his.
"In my other albums I would listen to them and be like, 'Oh there's my Elliott Smith song, there's my Dylan song, or my Pavement song,'" Devine said when asked to explain his sound on the new album. "Ghost was the first time I actually thought that each song was my own."
The metamorphosis of his influences into his own sound creates a wide range of styles within one album. The lap steel-driven country-western tune "More Today, Less Yesterday" is a radical departure from the songs surrounding it, yet it never feels like Devine has left the scope of the overall album.
Put Your Ghost To Rest raises many questions, not of "What will Phil do next," but rather, "What will Kevin do next?" And fortunately for the listener, Put Your Ghost to Rest is the musical equivalent of making a double bogey in the 72nd hole of the U.S. Open.
Grade: 4.5 out of 5
