Welcome to the Bush era! The NRA is setting up shop in the White House; the federal government is subsidizing faith-based social services with taxpayer money; the bumper sticker injunction 'Don't Mess with Texas' has finally assumed the force of law. Guns, God and Texas. It was only a matter of time before the age acquired its opus. But who would have predicted a ten-gallon prog-emo Biblical concept album about the Texan apocalypse? Did I stutter?
"When the Winston Churchills start firing their Winston rifles into the sky from the Lone Star State, drinking the Lone Star Beer and smoking their Winston cigarettes, you know the time is growing nigh..."
So rambles the deadpan Josh Pearson on "Just as Was Told," the opening track of The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads. The three Denton, Texas boys-- Pearson, Josh Browning and Andy Young-- learn from a drawling Angel of the Lord that "the USA is the center of Jerusalem," before the track erupts into a maelstrom of guitars like a tornado tearing into a trailer park. Spoken-word introspection and cherubic incantations weave together with twisted razor-wire space-rock. The elements are not strikingly original: one can hear traces of the journalistic intonations of Brian McMahan circa Slint's "Breadcrumb Trail"; the signature screwdriver-on-frets guitar liturgy of GYBE's Efrim Menuck; the late Jeff Buckley's ascendant vocals. But the intensity of music and vision is enough to overcome Lift to Experience's derivations. They are present, but for a moment, they are consecrated.
"Down Came the Angels" possesses a lighter touch, spun simply on the deep intermittent reverb of a lone guitar. But the song sets in relief a weakness that haunts the album: a total lack of phrasing. Seems like a trivial complaint on paper, but the truth is that Pearson sings until he feels like speaking, sings a little more, then resorts again to spoken word to serve the exigencies of the Good News. It's a hymn devolving into a prayer, and then into a sermon. And like church, it grows wearisome.
But all is temporarily forgiven with the thunderous intrusion of "Waiting to Hit." Reminiscent of early Spiritualized, the track lilts melodically and accelerates in dusty squalls of noise. In "Waiting," the Lord commands the band to inform the world about "the glory of the Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads." And Person replies, "Lord, I'll make you a deal: I will if you give me a smash hit so I can build a city on the hill." Go forth and spread the word, I guess. After all, the next song, "The Ground So Soft," opens with the boys singing a cappella from 1 Corinthians 15:55, straight out of the King James: "Death where is thy sting? Grave where is thy victory?" The effect is strikingly bizarre, like the first time you heard "I love you Jesus Christ!" on Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea: some pure confessional momentarily rising above the din.
The first single, "These Are the Days," is easily the strongest track on The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads: somehow catchy, bluesy and full of wrath. It's constructed around jangly loops of guitar, and for the first time, Pearson's loose and hyperbolic lyricism functions as an asset instead of a liability. So, as to preempt any comparisons to Europe's "The Final Countdown" (even though Pearson does, at one point, actually start counting down to apocalypse), the band takes a jab at "all you haircut bands doing headstands thinking you'll turn the world upside down." Why, you ask? "Because we're simply the best band in the whole damn land... and Texas is the reason."
In the end (of the album, not the world), the parade of self-references, such as the above and, "Just a stupid ranch hand in a Texas rock band trying to understand God's master plan" grows cumbersome. And unfortunately, "angels with crippled wings" and "God's terrible swift sword" do not lighten the load. The music is supple, and often absolutely inspiring; however, the lyrics, frequent spoken-word passages, and hymns are often deadening. Lift to Experience simply sprawl like prairies, and maybe like Texas: there's simply too much of it. There's no question that The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads is built solid. But the second coming? Not quite yet.
