This is not to say that the songwriting is not at times excellent; the band has perfected and patented the formula for a good U2 song, and they show themselves in command of this on How to Dismantle... The songs are individually-wrapped candies that offer a familiar but fulfilling sensation with an ignorable degree of retread. It is short on innovation but immediately appealing in its familiarity, which is enough for now. But it means fans are still waiting for their third wave of reinvention and relevance.
—Nathaniel Naddaff-Hafrey
The Tigers Have Spoken
Neko Case
(Anti )
Something about the unadulterated energy and joy of live recordings always appeals to me. Maybe it’s the interaction between performer and audience, or just the unfinished tonal dynamics that make the recording seem so much more authentic in this Pro Tools-obsessed age, but some of the most revered albums of this century have been live performances: for example, The Who’s Live at Leeds or The Allman Brothers quintessential Live at the Fillmore East. Following in this storied tradition is Neko Case’s latest release, The Tigers Have Spoken, an album that manages to be quite captivating even given its paltry length. Case, also the singer for the renowned indie band The New Pornographers, had not released an album since Blacklisted in 2002. This is also her first album on the Anti label, following her departure from Bloodshot Records.
Case and her entourage—consisting of über-competent Canadian surf-psychedelic-country rock band The Sadies (who just released their debut Favourite Colours), brilliant pedal steel guitarist John Rauhouse and vocalists Carolyn Mark and Kelly Hogan—take on several different styles in this remarkably diverse collection. The opening track “If You Knew” features bold vocals over an Ennio Morricone-esque groove that is augmented by Rauhouse’s tremendous feel and copious amounts of reverb and tremolo. “Hex” has more of an old-time high lonesome country groove thanks largely to the dobro playing but also to the acoustic guitar strumming that complements Case’s slightly sweetened vocal stylings. Finally, Case delivers a tremendous Grace Slick impression on “Blacklisted,” a dire-sounding mid-tempo piece.
The songs shine: despite slightly subpar sound quality—the guitars are a little jangly and inaudible at times (check out the horribly articulated guitar solo on the upbeat “Loretta”), the bass sometimes drops out of the mix and the drums sound a little bit mechanic—the vocals are transcendent throughout. Case has a talented for shifting her highly recognizable vocal chops to match different feels; the record never feels stagnant, although I do wish it were slightly longer so that the musicians could stretch out a little more. There are far too many really atmospheric moments that never stretch past a few bars and far too many songs that don’t make it past the three minute mark.
Part of the appeal of live albums is that they often showcase musicians cutting loose, jamming a bit and taking risks that they might not take in the studio. The Sadies and Rauhouse all have terrific feeling and a great sense of the music; their playing is always tasteful, but they never really get to experiment. Still, this is a really great album, which is made all the more personal and engaging by the inter-song banter, applause and Southern-tinged “Thank you’s.” The conversational highlight comes, of course, at the end of the performance when Case suggests “feeding children to tigers [since] there are so many extra children.” Now what studio album would end with that?
—Nathaniel Naddaff-Hafrey