SMOG
A River Ain't Too Much To Love (Drag City)
Reviewed by Sherman Wick

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Smog returns with its eleventh set of stripped-down introspective songs. The band is the moniker for singer/songwriter and guitarist Bill Callahan. Drummer Jim White of seminal Australian instrumental band the Dirty Three, and bassist Connie Lovatt, accompany him.

The songs are bleak as ever and the spare instrumentation reinforces the foreboding mood created by the lyrics. The songs are anchored to the songwriter's pensive and repetitive guitar riffs and his deadpan and clipped singing style. The record definitely establishes an emotional mood of despair on tracks such as "Palimpset" and "Say Valley Maker." The latter song climaxes with drummer White deftly building the percussion at the conclusion. The music for "the Well" - Jimmie Rodgers-style country train music - is less melancholic, but the lyrics are an angry and slightly comical attack on the failures of the creative muse. "Rock Bottom Riser" is another highlight: a sad but moving song about family and love, although in his delivery of the lyrics Callahan sounds ambivalent.

Finally, on the last track, the din has lifted as the lyrical mood becomes less despairing. Callahan sings gleefully, "Let me see the colts/ That will run next year.." The music gradually builds to a soaring conclusion, as the guitar, bass and drums propel the song's beat in tandem. It's a cathartic end to an emotionally draining yet powerful record.

© 2005 - Sherman Wick