Gary Louris, "Vagabonds"
-
Artist:
-
Album:
Spring is begining to peak its fresh little nose out from beneath the mounds of snow and dreary heartache and the sunshine is becoming a regular visiter. It's time to dust off our barbeques and beer helmets, find our frisbees or whatever amongst piles of other partially-retired and momentarily forgotten summer-time; and I don't know about you, but my whole CD rotation sees a facelift as the weather begins to change. On that note I need to be careful with CD's like Gary Louris's lastest solo offering, Vagabonds. It's the kind of music that is so beautifully written and so charmingly tranquil that- depending on the mood of the outdoors- it'll either make you want to sit in the sun and drink lemonade or look for razors in your cooped up, rain-soaked and girlfriend-less bedroom. Luckily for me the weather was particularly tasty when I met this album, and Vagabonds gave me many-a somber and wonderfully flatlined headspace. Gary Louris's voice might sound just a bit similar to others from the past (namely early David Bowie), however it is so attuned to its musical accopaniment that this isn't distracting; nor is it tempting to shrug him off as a paled photocopy, as the style and sounds of his music itself is pretty much in a genre of its own. On that note it's a little bit surprising (despite the music's occasional twangishness) to think that some of Gary's roots are in country music, and that he continues to be recognized with his current involvment with Golden Smog, the rock band who is getting ready to release their new album, Blood on the Slacks. Bandwise, Louris has seen his share. He moved to Minneanapolis after college where he played guitar in his first band, Schnauzer before joining Safety Last. This band was allegedly one of Minneanapolis's favorites, which may or may not be something I would personally brag about- then again what the hell do I know? Gary later saw the Jayhawks playing at their first gig and by the end of the night he was their new guitar player. In 1995 he left the Jayhawks to be with his wife but later repealed this decision because his wife was really just a mistress to his music (I actually just made that last part up- feel free to use it the next time you break up with your boyfriend/girlfriend). The Jayhawks last albuum, Rainy Day Music, was recorded in 2002 but Louris has since been recording solo stuff as well as with Golden Smog. I definately give kudos to vagabonds of all kinds, but especially to Gary Louris's album entitled Vagabonds. However, if you're going to listen to it, just make sure you're in a healthy relationship and there arn't any sleeping pills in your house. Unless you're that guy who tries to get nice and depressed before you go down to the coffee shop and write poetry. Either way, the album's worth a listen.
Comments (7)