Shine a Light (2003)
8.5
National Hum / Shine a Light / Nighttime/Anytime (It's alright)
/ Insectivora / Young Lions / Goodbye Baby & Amen / On to You
/ Poison / Scoundrel Babes / Tiger & Crane / Tank Commander (Hung Up in
a Warehouse Town) / Sub-Domestic
If
you're on the lookout for an excellent contemporary album with a savage, even
blistering, opening track, Shine a Light is the one. Even though
it's not aggressive or particularly brutal, "National Hum" is one of the most
smashingly intense and overwhelming punk songs of the past few years. A big-ass
bass monster crawls along at an insane speed, jarring guitar parts make razor-sharp
incisions, the drums wrap it up in primal energy, and Bry Webb's hoarse, from-the-gut-vocals
are so goddamn raw - and not in the annoying, screechy metalcore-fashion
- you'll want to pump your fists and sing along to whatever he's singing,
because it's so damn convincing. There's nothing as raucous and straightforward
on the album as this monumental slab of Sturm and Drang, but the second
album by these Canadians offers a few stunning moments that suggest they're
capable of eventually releasing that mind-blowing album you're still waiting
for. Shine a Light is a bit too uneven to accomplish that, but their
crossover of post-punk and classic rock and more specifically, Fugazi and
Springsteen, is delivered with such a passion and sincerity (two qualities
always attributed to said artists), you'll love 'em just for that. Of course,
you could argue there are about 2 billion bands around that play music entirely
derived from Fugazi's pioneering art-punk - and the Constantines don't really
expand the vocabulary - it's just that they go in depth and apply it to a
mould in a way that sounds completely fresh. Alternating between the angular
rhythms, dissonant guitar duals and hoarsely shouted manifestos of post-punk
and the epic accessibility of the Boss' darker works (think of the incensed
Springsteen of Darkness on the Edge of Town and you might get an idea),
Shine a Light is credible enough to satisfy fans of both currents and
those who situate themselves in between. On the quieter - more accessible
- side there's stuff like the title track, steadily intensifying during its
introduction, but exploring calmer territory as well, playing with moments
of near-dissonance and raw & lovely beauty and when Webb gets to the lines
"All a man can build is his vision and I love my man for trying," it's tempting
to apply this to the band. The vague, cryptic lyrics, often reminiscent of
Fugazi's equally opaque critiques, occasionally come off as wilfully alienating,
but several lines are spat out with an almost shocking bluntness and fervour.
Some moments on the album - single "Nighttime/Anytime" with its shouted vocals
and intertwining guitars and the shrapnel-spreading "Scoundrel Babes - are
a bit too uncomfortable to appeal to those who've never been initiated to
this brand of complex, purposely alienating rock, but for each of those, there
are tracks like the anthemic "Young Lions" and the metronome-powerpop
of "On to You," songs that bridge the gap between post-punk's often annoying
detachment and epic rock's grandeur, while the latter also contains the best
Springsteen-"imitation" ever - it's so good it's scary. Of course, there's
more to them than just those two influences. There's also The Clash (the vocals
in "Tank Commander" definitely owe a bit to Strummer's incomprehensible slur),
The Fall, Gang of Four (the massive bass lines) and '80's wave (the piercing
keyboards that are a nice touch), but most of all, there's a band delivering
the goods on their own terms, with a bunch of first-class songs (the run from
"National Hum" to "On to You" is as good as flawless) and a lot of terrific
moments. These songs are way too complex to have been created on a lazy afternoon,
but them being constructed meticulously doesn't get in the way of the listening
pleasure. Despite the rare less-inspired moment ("Poison" and "Tiger & Crane"
didn't really sink in), Shine a Light is the product of an enormously
gifted band, still honing their skills, but with already all of the sincerity,
maturity and intensity they'll ever need. It's not the easiest album around,
but not lacking in the "rewarding"-department either. I can't wait to hear
what the future will bring.