Live albums are often rather disposable, so I was surprised to find how well this one works. Jason Molina has retired his Songs: Ohia moniker and started a new backing band with the name of Songs: Ohia's last album, Magnolia Electric Co. At this show in Brussels, just a couple months into the name change, the band plays 10 extended rock workouts, all 6 to 9 minutes long, in the spirit of 70s arena and country rock outfits like Young and Frampton.
The band plays three songs from the upcoming studio album Whatever Comes After the Blues, three songs from the last two Ohia albums, and four as-to-here unreleased songs. The strength of the album, for me, is hearing the new, more rock versions of the three songs I've heard before. "Almost Was Good Enough" (from the album Magnolia Electric Co.) lasts past the 9 minute mark as the two guitarists explore every guitar phrase and lurch this sad song forward at a more deliberate pace. When they finally reach the chorus "Almost no one makes it out," the guitars growl with new found fury, making the song that much more potent.
The seven new songs are universally great too. Two time album opener (both this live set and the upcoming studio album) "Dark Don't Hide It" is chugging and anthemic. "Such Pretty Eyes for a Snake" is also stellar, with scorching guitarwork and Molina's typical great use of animal kingdom imagery in songs about love and pain. While you'd have hoped the group would have time to pull out a much older song from the vaults, like "How to be Perfect Men" from Axxess & Ace, having four exclusive songs makes this more than the "Greatest Hits" album that live albums typically are.
While Neil Young is the obvious talking point, and one aptly pounded upon in the label's description, it wasn't the first link that came to mind. When listening to the album the first few times, all I could think of was "The Lung" by Dinosaur Jr. from You're Living All Over Me. Both mine the same source, but with Molina's whining, straining-to-match-the-rock voice (see "Don't This Look Like the Dark") and more indie sensibilities, it is much more appropriate to say Molina is Mascis' heir than Young's.
Molina is backed by Pete Schreiner (Panoply Academy), Mike Kapinus (Okkervil River), and Jason Groth (The Impossible Shapes) for this show, but there's already been one or two lineup changes in preparation for this spring's studio album. Hopefully, even with the changes, the group was able carry the Young-like style and Dinosaur-like power into the studio.
