Elliott Smith
began his career like most aspiring musicians in the Northwestern states: putting in the requisite hours in a
grunge
band. Being a team player, however, is not
Smith
's forte. After those buzzy shows in the bars of Portland, OR, he would retreat backstage with his acoustic guitar and whisper his own quiet songs to himself. This album is his first attempt to record those songs, and they capture that feeling perfectly: a loner retreating from the noisy tension of life with others, finding solace in musical solitude.
Roman Candle
was, in fact, recorded in solitude on a four-track in a basement.
played all the instruments himself. He has said that he's always surprised when people call his songs "sad," because playing them always made him happy. You can hear that reclusive joy in the light bounce of the melodies and hushed harmonies (which recall
Simon & Garfunkel
). But his lyrics are haunted by the downbeat, drug-addled life from which he was retreating. For all their cryptic cleverness, there is a restless unhappiness in his fragmented stories of alienated urbanites. After that description, a reference to the definitive
folk
loner,
Nick Drake
, is inevitable.
's whispery vocals and able fingerpicking deserve the comparison. The highlight of
is the title track. The quietly driving acoustic guitars and threatening bass create a disturbing portrait of a human time bomb, barely containing a seething and simmering undercurrent of bitterness. The rest of the album, by comparison, is pure sunlight. ~ Darryl Cater