Revolutionary Hydra - Knockout to Dispense
(Elsinor)
In the liner notes of The Revolutionary Hydra's latest album Knockout to Dispense, member Jay Chilcote laments, "Do you guys remember when we used to be, like, abrupt and cryptic and lo-fi and shit?", implicating of course, that to be cryptic and lo-fi and shit is somehow less mature than to be clear and definite and accessible. The question is then, why are better production and direct lyrics the hallmarks of maturity? I mean, I understand why it would seem like that on a visceral level. You hear nice shiny guitars, a couple "I love you"s here and there, "It's about adulthood, relationships"—somehow the sober retelling of a relationship gone wrong is the epitome of mature songwriting (for God's sake "Jenny and the Ess-Dog" the worst song that ever fell out of Malkmus's brain seemed to be the one most people connected with on his s/t album). Really, it's all malarkey. The only reason anyone thinks its more mature is because that's usually the natural progression of bands. You know, how many young kids can afford recording in 48-track studios or afford to buy super-nice guitars with the tone just right and that always stays in tune? Not many, so they're relegated to the bedroom 4-track, thrift store instrument corner for their early seminal works, and blah, blah, blah.
Then, as they mature physically and socially, they can afford better stuff, they don't have all the tape hiss and the limitations of 4-tracks and they begin to get sick of people questioning the obscure lyrics. "What did you mean when you said 'syllabic stabs at a coal store corner/cordial or winds filament hours'?" They want to connect with people in a less post-modern way, less private symbolism, less Wimsattian interpretation, and more candidness. Pavement, Guided by Voices, R.E.M., they all did that, and now, The Revolutionary Hydra too.
Not that the clarity is really leaps and bounds beyond their last album, The Antiphony. It mostly goes along the same lines musically, fewer linking instrumentals and such—that is, a tighter sequence, and also less abstruseness in the lyrics, maybe... there were a few relationship or story songs on the last one, but on Knockout to Dispense, it's much more pervasive, somewhat akin to Death Cab for Cutie's We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes, in that vein of being a loose concept album about a/many relationship(s), the songs more connected in theme than in continuing storyline. Also, a theme of frustrated artistry comes into play, "I'm going to a party tonight, though I should write—I won't, maybe never will again. I haven't written for weeks," and, "I haven't painted in so long." Failure in art, failure in love, definitely mature themes, and pretty well-handled here, possibly a little too direct, but at least not heavy-handed. If one misses the recondite phrasings or the charming murkiness of a 4-track, then one can only say that it's made up for with interesting guitar lines and a cohesive motif.
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