Lach – The Calm Before
If you were to look at my last.fm listening stats you’d think Lach was my favourite band in all the world. This isn’t really the case, I’m just rather fascinated with this album: it’s so familar and yet so hard to pin down.
My ignorance slaps me across the face with a wet halibut once more because it turns out that Lach is more than just established, the man is a pillar of the New York anti-folk community and has been releasing albums for nigh-on twenty years. So much for this young whippersnapper. I’ve yet to entirely understand what anti-folk is, but my best guess is ‘folk music without the prettiness’.
Anti-rock ‘n’ roll might be more appropriate at times here. Pick the more straight-up songs on this album and you’ll be making comparisons to John Darnielle, Eef Barzelay or perhaps even the legendary Bob Dylan, although the nasal vocals may be the dominant factor in this last association.
At other times the rock ‘n’ roll sax gives you the impression you might be listening to Bruce Springsteen, had he turned into a bar singer instead of a stadium rocker. Then on occasion he even veers close to the kind of ghost-town carnival atmosphere that I love so much. As I said, it never sounds anything other than completely familiar, this record, but for some reason I’d never call it predictable or samey.
It feels faintly cheeky making glib internet judgments on a man who is clearly a legend, so all I’ll do is say that I really reckon this album is worth a go. The pace is purposeful, the vocals plaintive, and the lyrics neat and evocative. Buy it.
Lach – George at Coney
Lach – Men Don’t Come Back
Lach – Crazy Horse
website | hype | pre-order album
Looks like Lach is using your review as part of his ‘the critics respond’ mission drive.
)
Considering the monumental ignorance of my review, I’m surprised he hasn’t turned his nose up at it.
First Reviews for The Calm Before are coming in already:
“I’m just rather fascinated with this album: it’s so familar and yet so hard to pin down.The pace is purposeful, the vocals plaintive, and the lyrics neat and evocative. Buy it.”-songbytoad.com
george would have loved that song so much, he does what am i talking about, you have such a way on being inside of your song,and crazy hose is always open, maybe it’s woodstock or maybe home has always been your smile-love easy
Do you not know the history of anti-folk? I’m not getting in to it in full here, but it’s fairly straight forward: Lach* set up his anti-folk festival in the mid-80s in protest after being repeatedly turned down for gigs at a ‘genuine’ folkie turn out because he was deemed too raucus/loud/non-folkie in his music/guitarorism/lyrics. There’s a little bit more to it than that, but the ethos/stance spawned a generous following/genre that fit into this quirky, shouty version of acoustic-based music that has been threatening the fringes of cross-over ever since. Artistic license with the term has always been employed (hence the more ‘rockier’ of outputs these days), but the ‘punk’ element remains at the core. I guess the best & simplest way of describing anti-folk is “aggressive acoustic”. (early) Beck, Jeff Lewis, Paleface, Hamell On Trial, The Moldy Peaches ergo Kimya dawson + Adam Green et al fall into this bracket (amongst many others), but you knew that already.
Kramer, off of Shimmy Disc/Second Shimmy/Bongwater/Butthole Surfers/+ many more, mastered a UK A-F compilation album in ‘07 entitled Up The Anti, which is worth checking out (for a good cross section of ’styles’ & approach from us Brits’ interpretation of the genre) if you can get your hands on a copy.
*the term anti-folk is reputed to have been coined in about ‘84 by some artist (name escapes),as a counterpoint to the established Folk City folkie/mainstream gig bookings. Then again, it could be one of those “I was there” claims by one of many who weren’t a la Sex Pistols early gigs, etc.
As an aside, the other half of has played at an anti-folk festival a few years back, at the invite of Lach, & he knows most of the major players, if you will, in those circles.