Glasstown - Living and Forgetting
(Bitter Stag)
Glasstown is a San Francisco group formed after co-writers Adam Klein
and Michael Mullen gave up on the musical they were working on,
the story of Branwell "The Forgotten" Brontë called Dithering
Lows (the opposite of Wuthering Heights, natch). Brontë is
perhaps the ultimate indie rock god; a painter and poet who due to booze
and his own sorrows never made it out from the shadows of his sisters, but
remained completely and utterly full of himself. The
idea of a musical about his life seems absurd enough to be comedic,
although it seems as if Klein and Mullen had every intent on exploring
the tragedy of his life, as he died in a deep depression at a young age.
Started as music for a musical, Glasstown does come off with a strong
Broadway vibe. Vocalist Klein sings like a circus ringleader, using
a bold, full-bodied voice, trying to fill the room with the sound of
his voice. Such a voice can be easy to hate, but for the most part
Klein gets away with his vocal theatrics due to the strength of his
words. These lyrics also sound as
if from a musical, worded as if to include the audience in the ordeal
of the song, and it's no surprise that the remnants of
Dithering Lows appear on the band's debut CD, Living and Forgetting.
"Dithering Lows" is the highlight of the CD. Musically, the song is
just a clanging, noisy pop song made from a few bangs on the piano,
a guitar swell towards the end of the song, drums, and
a soft french horn melody in the background, but lyrically, everything
Klein and Mullen wanted to express in the musical is heard. All the
frustrated feelings of Brontë are expressed through Klein's voice,
all the feelings of being intelligent and talented but having wasted
your life on carnal pleasures, unable to tap that pool of creativity
you believe is inside you and failing to accomplish as much as those
around you.
The rest of the album has no connection to the musical, although its
stylized, bellowing vocal flourishes and simple,
hook-filled music would certainly fit in that context.
Covering the same musical range as The Magnetic Fields and XTC,
Glasstown make richly textured but simple pop songs. On the album's
first track, "Mosaic," the band explores new wave with low flying clouds of
synthesizer haze and well-places squiqqles of keyboard melody.
On "The French Couple," all is used is acoustic guitars and drums
for a sparser sound as Klein sings with jealousy of his overindulgent
French neighbors while Klein and his mate struggle to afford the bare
necessities.
The songs of Living and Forgetting are made from smart music and even
smarter vocals. Klein's words are rich and colorful, and his voice
attempts--for better or worse--to match the richness of his words while
the music provides a warm and textured but unspectacular background.
The album is certainly very good and easy to listen to; however,
the musical seems much more inspired.
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