Heavy Ornamentals, Part 1

There's a new Gourds album on the shelves, and it is reason to rejoice. Heavy Ornamentals is a great record. I'd go so far as to call it a triumphant return to form, but I'm thinking that maybe my own form has changed more than theirs, so that may not be accurate.

Let me explain.

Anyone who is into music experiences changes in interest and fluctuations in appreciation throughout their lives. Most of the time it's as innocuous as the old "Lately I've been listening to a lot of [enter your own new genre here]." But sometimes it's more than that. Sometimes you move away from music that has been very important to you, indeed has made up much of what you consider great about music in the first place. Fads come and go, tastes change, geography changes, groups of friends change--there are reasons uncountable for why we are such fickle creatures. But still, the impact can be great.

An example: When I moved from high school to college, everything changed. I largely stopped listening to what I thought was great metal (Metallica, Iron Maiden, etc) and even not-so-great derivative metal (Motley Crue, KISS, et al) and started listening to completely different music. REM, The Cure, The Alarm, The Smiths--prototypical college rock took over my life because it was new and great and interesting and, quite simply, I realized that what I had been listening to was total crap. I mean, Bon Jovi lyrics dominated interpersonal relationships for a time, and I knew no better. Scary.

Sometimes it's not so cut and dry.

When I moved to Austin, I thought I knew it all. Armed with Pavement and REM enough to prove I knew what-for, I went down there to immerse myself in music. And my world flipped again. The Reverend Horton Heat, Ed Hall, Alice Donut, The Supersuckers, Spoon--suddenly everything was new and wonderful. So I did nothing but rock out as hard as I could.

Then I met my wife-to-be, who not only couldn't stand to have this loud-ass shit going on in the house all the time, she was also interested in that other Texas music, and we found we had this in common. Fugazi gave way to James McMurtry, The Jesus Lizard stepped aside for The Flatlanders, and a new interest took hold. This was new and fascinating to me--country was good! And there my obsession lived for a while.

The Gourds were a HUGE part of that. They were my favorite band in all the world for a long long time. In many ways, they still are. However, when we left Texas and moved to Idaho, our exposure to and cultural connection to that kind of music suffered from distance. I discovered rock again--and so did Cathy. Things changed. Doug Sahm stayed out of the carousel for a while and Franz Ferdinand stayed in. And now, as I bathe more fully in the newly acquired knowledge that electronic music doesn't automatically suck, the distance seems greater than ever.

But then, The Gourds go and do this. They make a great record. Their last few have been good, of course--but good in the sense that it takes a few listens to grab onto why it's good, while shadows of doubt over this or that track or how much I actually do love thee linger. This time, first listen. That's it. This is a great record. From the obvious singles to the deeper buried gems, it's like I'm 26 and living in Austin and hearing "Dying of the Pines" on late night radio all over again. Holy shit, this is good.

Anyway, I'd like to spend more time talking about this actual record, but that'll have to wait. Meantime, go get this album. That way we'll be on the same page for part 2 of this post.