Search - Pale Horse & Rider :: These Are the New Good Times

Stylus Magazine review - 7.5

Gentry | Bloomington, MN United States | 06/14/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I think every songwriter has a certain inclination towards the simplicity of playing guitar. Just you and the instrument; knees crossed, head down, in the corner of your room. Jon DeRosa, best known for his work with the ambient/experimental project Aarktika, began singing and songwriting while still in High School under the guise Fade, and then Dead Leaves Rising. After three years constructing more studio processed material, DeRosa has returned home. Recorded in the same church as the last Low and Rivulets releases, DeRosa, like Nathan Amundson (of Rivulets) did with his newest album, called in his closest and most respected musician friends to "maintain a sense of `family.'" Released on the same date as his latest Aarktica output, These Are the New Good Times is less a companion piece and more an entirely separate entity. The only parallel is DeRosa's soft voice, falling somewhere between a baritone and a tenor. I more or less purchased the album based on my complete love and awe of DeRosa's four songs off the triple-split EP, The Alcohol EPs, with Remora and Rivulets. More specifically, one song, "Bruises Like Badges" particularly caught my ear. A simple guitar and bedroom recording with DeRosa singing about a past love showing off her "bruises" and "scars" as medallions. The melody is of the walk-around-your-house-singing-it-for-weeks variety. Disappointingly, nothing on These Are the New Good Times matches it in sheer beauty and memorability, but can't be said to not have tried (and often come close.) With 11 songs, three of them being covers of DeRosa's friends' tracks, it's clear that DeRosa is pacing himself. The bulk of the songs are 3-4 minute folk-tinged tunes with little accompaniment besides the occasional violin, harmonium and electric guitar. Taking the folk tradition on his back, the lyrics often tell small lovelorn tales, but not without a touch of humor on occasion. "Jersey Coast Line," with its acoustic finger picking, tells of the protagonist's failed pursuit of The Girl. Just when she seems within reach, The Boy learns she has a little female tot back home, and he echoes what his foilers had been saying all along: "I think it's time I stay away from your sister / I think it's time I stay away from your daughter" One of the standout tracks, "Will We Be Blessed Someday," contains an almost Gospel choir-like chorus, with Amundson and Alan Sparhawk contributing backing vocals. It's a plea to the Lord for perseverance and blessing: "So Lord can you give us strength / To endure our expected lengths / And I'll ask no more from you again." The other near "Bruises Like Badges" moment is "Stars," a plaintive cry against decay and for elopement, with DeRosa's voice moving up and down the scale with emotional grace: "How sad is it to see / The world through different eyes / I'd rather see it all through yours." The most successful cover is of Nathan Amundson's track "Past Life" taken from his self titled debut. DeRosa's version oddly sounds like "Flood" by Jars of Clay at times (don't look at me like that, you've heard it too.) The atmosphere of the original track is jettisoned in favor of a basic, stripped down take with guitar and harmonium. The Remora cover "I Told Jesus Christ How Much I Love Her" is a considerable improvement on the original. Gone are Brian John Mitchell's off key, shaky (inebriation is no excuse) vocals. Simple guitar and organ instrumentation provide a backdrop for heavy lyrical content which seems a little out of place in its positioning on the album: "Since the train accident you know there's nothing left / Just alcoholics and promise of oblivion. < i>These Are the New Good Times succeeds in maintaining a light-heartedness, even optimism within even its dourest tales; as the final track shows: "Well I've been to every bar / Looked in every passing car / But you're the prettiest girl I've seen tonight (so far)""