There used to be a quote somewhere on the Perishable website about Red Red Meat's final album, There's a Star Above the Manger Tonight, that said something like, "God made us stop for a while after this one." There's a kernel of truth there. Manger came at the end of a intensely creative cycle for Red Red Meat, where they evolved from the noisy blues-punk band of their self-titled debut, through the 70s-informed grunge of Jimmywine Majestic, and then up an even steeper arc with the sound experiments of Bunny Gets Paid. The Red Red Meat of Star Above the Manger sounded like a band heavy with noise and density, ready to implode.
Tim Rutili's post-Meat project, Califone, which kept most of his previous band's members, started somewhere near Star Above the Manger but gradually drifted toward calmer waters. With Califone's second EP and debut full-length, Roomsound, Rutili was able to explore his deep love of folk music, and he alternated his own take on the murder ballad tradition with jagged rock songs that touched on late-period Meat. Lately, another side of Califone has emerged, an atmospheric improv outfit that released a record of film music called Deceleration One.
Califone's sonic thumbprint seems well suited to soundtrack work, but the instrumental side of the band, while unique, isn't what makes it great. Califone lives and dies on the strength of Tim Rutili's songs. Rutili has confessed his love for Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music collection, and a large number of his recent songs have been informed by those ancient styles. This development hasn't always been for the best. One essential feature of folk music is that it has be easy to remember, and a certain melodic immediacy and simplicity helps songs get passed down through generations. While Califone's work has been consistently strong, I've sometimes felt like Rutili's focus on folk has shortchanged his melodic gifts. Quicksand/Cradlesnakes is the fleshed-out and focused songwriter's showcase I've been hoping for.
In a way, Quicksand/Cradlesnakes is like a summation of all that Califone is about, and the first three tracks alone touch on almost everything the band has done to date. The opening "One" is a spacy one-minute instrumental interlude that would sound great behind an experimental film, and it bleeds into the slow country of "Horoscopic.amputation.honey", which is built around Rutili's piano and groaning harmonies. Halfway through, the track evolves into anthemic gospel-tinged rock in the tradition of the Stones' "Shine a Light", driving the song home with a fantastic refrain that features the typically mysterious line, "Amputated years are growing back a new shade." Then comes the gorgeous "Michigan Girls", so welcoming it almost seems like a nursery rhyme, mostly just voice and guitar, but with nice cello swells and gentle percussion. The delicacy and subtlety of the percussion throughout might have something to do with Perishable house producer Brian Deck sitting this one out (Graeme Gibson of Boas recorded and mixed).
The remainder of Quicksand/Cradlesnakes continues to blend styles and refine previously established directions. "Your Golden Ass" is a rough, overdriven boogie track demonstrating that Califone haven't completely abandoned their punk roots. The old, weird American vibe of "Million Dollar Funeral" finds Rutili writing his very best song in the familiar style, with an old-timey tune worthy of the greats, performed with just voice, guitar and a fiddle doubling on melody. "When Leon Spinx Moved to Town" is a slow, black, moody rock song that sounds a bit like "Bunny Gets Paid", only more direct and forceful. The midtempo "Vampiring Again" is as relaxed and immediately catchy as mid-70s Fleetwood Mac, but Lindsay Buckingham would never have thought to add the hyper-distorted powerchord fills. In the end, the consistency of this album in the face of such diversity is inspiring. The songs, interludes, pacing and sequencing are all as they should be, helping to make Quicksand/Cradlesnakes Califone's best record.
