Categories : Folk + Roots, Music Reviews, Rock + Pop.
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Rating: 2.5 / 5 Reviewer: Garth Paulson |
Catacombs, the new album from Cass McCombs, may well be his most direct statement, but it’s also his dullest. On the album, McCombs embraces his singer-songwriter side more than ever before, offering a set of plaintive, heart-on-sleeve numbers that unfortunately drag lethargically throughout.
The 11 songs that make up Catacombs clock in at nearly 54 minutes, with six of them eclipsing the five-minute mark. While this isn’t necessarily a problem in and of itself, the album’s lack of sonic differentiation makes the runtime downright ponderous. McCombs sounds more comfortable here than he ever has before, but he doesn’t vary his act up enough. Almost every one of the tracks on Catacombs meanders by in a consistently laidback mid-tempo. While each of these songs can be affecting when taken on their own, trying to get through the whole album at once is as difficult as trying to pick up a soaking wet burlap sack filled with a couple dozen sleeping cats.
What saves the album from being a complete snooze fest is McCombs wry sense of humour. Throughout the album he peppers the dreary proceedings with clever lyrics and quick turns of phrase that work to snap drooping heads back to attention. McCombs creates a character who sings earnestly about loving his job and not just doing it to pay the bills on ‘The Executioner’s Song.’ ‘Don’t Vote’ is packed with barbed lines that are particularly cutting in this age of celebrity voting campaigns. On ‘Lionkiller Got Married’—which harkens back to ‘Lionkiller’ from 2007’s Dropping the Writ and is one of the few moments on Catacombs that escapes the mid-tempo bog – McCombs asks “why anyone in their right mind would get married nowadays,” which is a good line on its own and is made all the better by Catacombs reportedly being a tribute McCombs’ wife.
Even with this wit and McCombs’ obvious charisma, the album is too slow moving, too one note, too dull to merit much more than a shrug or an unexpected nap. It’s pretty, sure, but…yawn…oh so very, very dull.
