Midlake – The Courage of Others
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Midlake – The Courage of Others (Bella Union)
Midlake’s second album, The Trials of Van Occupanther, reflected a serious immersion in, of all things, Bob Welch-era Fleetwood Mac. It was not unpleasant listening and became something of an indie-rock cause célèbre. Now, with The Courage of Others, the Texas-based group re-emerges — fixated on the late 60’s/ early 70’s sounds of British folk-rock — in particular Fairport Convention and Pentangle.
Fairport featured the piercing, soulful vocals of Sandy Denny and the guitar fireworks of Richard Thompson. Pentangle were largely acoustic, as influenced by American blues and jazz as they were British traditional music. They created a Brit-folk equivalent of the Modern Jazz Quartet — reflective, intimate, and quietly swinging.
Great influences indeed. And Midlake has trouble living up to them. They lack a charismatic singer like Denny or a singular instrumental voice like Thompson. While Tim Smith’s vocals aim for the calm, but captivating sound of Jacqui McShee, he lacks her unique, compelling qualities. The band compensates for Smith’s personality deficit with ubiquitous harmonization. Such an approach worked for the Anglo-Icelandic psych-folk rockers Fields. Not so for Midlake. And by no means are the band’s guitar chops anywhere close to Pentangle’s John Renbourn and Bert Jansch.
So, you’re left with neo-hippie Brit-folk aspirants, not without talent but without distinction. Midlake strove to make an album based on elemental, universal themes; instead they’ve delivered something archaic and sophomoric.
How’s this (from “Small Mountain”) for a great moment in Pop lyrics: “Poor lands will surely grow/among the weeds among the roads/and all are anxious for song and dance/that will sometimes get old. “ What? Egad.
The Felice Brothers, by comparison, aim for a timeless folk vibe, something that’s as evocative of the Twenties as the present, but the Felices crowd their songs with references to contemporary sign posts (including Wal-Mart parking lots), In contrast, Midlake spin Renaissance Fair themes that degenerate quickly into imprecise babble.
There are moments of sweet, modest musicality on The Courage of Others, like the pristine “Fortune,” but they are outnumbered by Bell-bottom pastiches like “Small Mountain,” a molehill of a song that sounds like the folkie equivalent of Spinal Tap or some Monty Python send-up of the Moody Blues.
Reverberating: 4.9
Steve Wilson is the manager of Kief's Downtown Music and a lifelong musician and music writer. His weekly bundle of music reviews, Reverberations, will be appearing in KCFreePress each Tuesday.
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