This Week's Album Releases: SMOG Knock Knock Domino

Andy Gill
Friday 29 January 1999 00:02 GMT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

THE NONCHALANT fatalism that marked Bill "Smog" Callahan's previous records continues to pervade Knock Knock, although his musical palette has suddenly expanded in strange new directions. It is Bill's typically obtuse attempt to make an album for teenagers: "... starting with the cover art, with its lightning and wildcats - those seem like things that teenagers identify with". Whether they'll identify with the music is another matter. Callahan's original "sadcore" stylings are still featured on songs such as "I Could Drive Forever" and "River Guard", but the sheer diversity - not to mention perversity - of his approaches makes the album hard to grasp at one hearing. The best way to describe it is probably as the country album The Velvet Underground never got round to recording, though even they might find the gap between "Let's Move to the Country" and "No Dancing" too big to span.

Bill also turns his hand to psychedelic garage rock in "Held", though the languor of "Sweet Treat", with its shreds of guitar dancing like insects in the last rays of sunlight, remains his true forte. Despite the recurring theme of movement, there's a strange stasis about the album, as if Callahan experienced the displacement in songs such as "Hit the Ground Running", "Let's Move to the Country" and "I Could Drive Forever" less as a physical than a spiritual sensation. Introspective and reclusive, dry and elusive, this is life in the inside lane, in every sense.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in