Closing Time Never Comes

Neko Case “Destination”

I’ve been listening to Neko Case’s voice for a very long time now, and though her singing is very familiar and comforting, I feel like there’s something about her I never fully understand. This quality makes her more compelling, like she’s always several steps ahead of you and giving you cryptic clues you’ve got to figure out if you’re ever going to catch up with her. But the root of it is the implication that she knows things, that her perceptions go far beyond what most of us see, hear, or feel. This suits the songs she sings that are written by Carl Newman, whose words often approach complicated feelings from odd angles and with opaque language, and it’s even better for the lyrics she writes herself, which overflow descriptive details and nuanced observations.

“Destination” sounds to me like the culmination of years of Case’s music – a character study so vivid that the lyrics are like a photorealistic illustration rendered in dense crosshatching; a melody that undersells its melancholy so the sadness in the song creeps up on you; an arrangement that approaches the grandeur of some of the music she’s made with The New Pornographers but in a far more relaxed and resigned way. It’s stunning and ambitious work from a veteran artist, but also remarkably casual in its feel.

Buy it from Bandcamp.

Sloan “Congratulations”

A little over 30 years ago Jay Ferguson wrote “I Hate My Generation,” a song about feeling awkward about where he landed in history as a Gen Xer and questioning how much he had in common with the rest of his cohort. The title sounds harsh, but his words were totally ambivalent. Flash forward to “Congratulations,” one of his songs from Sloan’s 14th album Based on the Best Seller, and he sounds like he’s become more comfortable with the notion of generations, or at least very sympathetic to the people coming up now:

“Congratulations are in order for someone who can draw a line to the generation waiting at the door impatiently for some to pass through.”

That line may look like a mouthful, but Ferguson’s melody is characteristically elegant and easygoing. From there, Ferguson ponders how successive generations of artists end up competing for anyone’s attention. There’s no real answer to the question, and no side taken. I just get the sense that he’s tickled by the conundrum, and hoping everyone gets some moments to shine.

Buy it from Bandcamp.

Garbage “Chinese Fire Horse”

Shirley Manson seethes with righteous indignation through “Chinese Fire Horse,” absolutely galled by the notion that her time is over, that’s she too old, and should retire. As well she should be! It’s cool to hear someone, especially a woman, push back this hard on ageism in music culture. Sure, maybe you reach a point where people start treating you like a living legend, and I’m sure that’s nice. But Manson isn’t looking for that kind of satisfaction – she’s still here, she’s still writing, she’s still as vicious and intense and charismatic as she’s ever been. And it’s not enough that she’s saying something interesting and true – this song is a bop, and it’s on par with Garbage’s best material. There’s no delusion here, she’s still got it.

Buy it from Amazon.