Tom Gavin
Into the Weeds
© 2007 Tom Gavin (700261227290)
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A cluster of expansive, evocative songs sculpted with coarse, dusky textures and dream-logic imagery.
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Full of murky moods and hypnotic rhythms, Into the Weeds is the newest album by Tom Gavin, and his fifth solo release. Its nine songs are some of his strongest yet, shifting seamlessly from rough, wiry guitar stylings to slow-motion vamps, and mining extensively from a wide range of rock and post-rock ideas without fitting easily into any category.
In contrast to its sprawling predecessor, Fallout, the new album is both shorter and more exploratory. Richly melodic songs open up into meditative instrumental passages of intricate guitars and beautifully layered harmonies. While the by-now-expected twists and unusual song-structures are present, the spastic/off-kilter quality of his earlier releases has given way to a looser and more free-flowing feel.
Tom Gavin plays a variety of instruments in support of other New York-based songwriters and musicians, and likewise his own recordings often incorporate whatever random noisemakers can find a purpose in the track--from triangle to teakettle. Into the Weeds continues in these footsteps, adding guest trumpeter Alicia Godsberg for a spaghetti western/ Magical Mystery Tour touch on two songs. In particular, the horn fanfare the erupts in the middle of closer "Only a Ghost” may be the most satisfying moment of the entire album.
Elsewhere, "Take Some Time" weaves mandolin and acoustic guitar with layers of melodica over a somnambulistic drum beat to mesmerizing effect, and "Queen of the Rioting" rides on an appropriately regal electric guitar figure while a distant trumpet heralds the approaching chaos over the rumble of war drums. Through this all, his alternately hollered/spoken vocals push and pull at the songs, offering vignettes and broken dialogues of self-deception, loss, regret, and a yearning for clarity.