I Love It When You Fade On Me.
The Feeling - "Love It When You Call"
(3:33, 6.49mb)
Track 8, Twelve Stops And Home, 2006.

Welcome to the 1980s revival. It was bound to happen, I suppose. The Feeling, in their interviews, made a big noise about being fans of cheesy, cheesy pop, your ELOs and 10cc's. I wasn't really convinced that they were any good until I saw them live; my girlfriend being the big fan. Live, they're worth seeing; they're tight, lead singer has charisma (even if he does look silly in a cravat), they know how to rock and executed perfect harmonies again and again. And that's the stuff you pay attention to live.

Onstage, the lead singer said something to the effect of: life's too short to be cool. Which is perhaps a reason why "Love It When You Call" reminds me of none other than "The Power Of Love" by Huey Lewis and the News. Let's face it, Huey Lewis will never be cool, even if his "Hip To Be Square" seems strangely prescient in this age of nerd-chic.

The difference between "The Power Of Love" and "Love It When You Call" is that "Love It When You Call" is even catchier. There's hooks all over the place in this song: 1) the guitar riff in the intro and the first half of the verse; 2) the simple, singsong melody of the verse over the guitar riff; 3) the way the lead singer sings "I-I-I-I-aye" instead of "I' in the line "I wonder if you ever get to say what's on your mind"; the classic build up of tension in the prechorus, when he's singing "take a little time"; 3) the chorus, repeating "I love it when you call" four times, with the effective punchline "but you never call at all"; 4) the way the line "so what's the complication, it's only conversation" stands out in the chorus and the song, especially as "complication" and "conversation" are pretty much the only words in the song with more than two syllables; 5) the way that when you think the chorus is over, they go into a second, still catchy section, with backing vocals singing "he loves it when you call", with great harmonies; 6) the guitar solo, which is great, but shamelessly 80s and cheesy, reminiscent of the Darkness's "Girlfriend".

Strangely enough, the same things that make "Love It When You Call" so catchy are the same things that were bothering me; basically, the straightforward "we want to write the most catchy pop song ever" means that the song lacks a little bit of subtlety. It's a particularly obvious song, rarely does anything unexpected. The nature of the monosyllabic singsongy verse is such that it takes a great songwriter to fill it with great lyrics, and the Feeling don't quite have that great songwriter; the lyrics are more or less forgettable. Similarly, their chord progressions are often predictable and obvious, though there are nice touches here and there.

But I think what was really bothering me about the Feeling was that the music is, simply, straightforward pop. It's really, really good straightforward mainstream pop, but still. It's music that's made for the charts, made to appeal to the public of 2006 (as all pop should really). Whereas, my music taste is based upon my assumption that most people are idiots - music made for them is just not music made for me, that authenticity and personal expression is important. The catch, for me, is that, while I have these assumptions about music, I have such a sweet tooth from years of listening to the greatest hits of the 60s 70s and the 80s on the radio. The sugar in The Feeling's music is appealing to my sweet tooth, and while part of my brain is telling me that the Feeling are too mainstream for me, another part of me wants more sugar, dammit.

Magnolia Electric Co. - "Don't Fade On Me"
(4:18, 6.52mb)
Track 1, Fading Trails, 2006.

Jason Molina's formula these days is straightforward: simple, repetitive songs? check. Rootsy sound, reminiscent of Neil Young, emphasising the quavering in Molina's voice? Check. As many mentions of the following words as possible: "moon", "fade", "dark", "star", "road", "cross", "ghost", "lonesome"? Check. The thing with Molina that makes him worth talking about is that he rises above the formula. As many songs about dark moons and fading ghosts as he writes, it's as if the moon and ghosts are ciphers for what he really wants to say, and the fascination with Molina is in the tension that builds when he tries to say what he has to say within the limitations and rules of his style. There's a spark there.

The irony of "Don't Fade On Me"and Fading Trails in general, is that it's further evidence that the spark of Jason Molina - the thing that makes him worth listening to - has faded. Songs:Ohia's Magnolia Electric Co.* was incendiary, songs like "Farewell Transmission" and "John Henry Split My Heart" evidence of a man who was channeling frustration, rage, and anger into songs that evoked the rootsy Americana of 1970s Neil Young; earlier Songs:Ohia effectively channelled the spark into Oldhamesque Appalachian folk. Molina's work since then hasn't had that strength of heart on it though; Magnolia Electric Company's What Comes After The Blues, Molina's first studio album after Magnolia Electric Co., was partly disappointing because of the forgettable songs, and partly disappointing because it lacked the spark.

The plus side of Fading Trails is that, more or less, it's a much stronger album than What Comes After The Blues; it has better songs, with good lyrics and thoughtful performance (though, it's a bit all over-the-place, what with it being a distillation of four albums Molina's intended to release this year). The con is that it's missing a bit of the spark. What makes it interesting is that you get the impression that Molina knows the spark has gone. "Don't Fade On Me" is a meditation on fading; lyrically he seems unsure, doubtful of whether his "darling" has faded on him or not - he sings "you faded on me" and "don't fade on me" at separate points in the song. There's a fatalistic feel to it. The complexity of the emotions Molina dredges up in a song like this...it still isn't as powerful as whatever propelled him before, but there's a certain fascination to it, something that makes it still worth listening to.

tim.