Published on Aug 13, 2001
Canada’s The Tragically Hip are a band you either love or are
left scratching your heads about. Gordon Downie and crew have, for
over 10 years, been wowing fans across the border while wondering
what they need to do to achieve mammoth success in the States.
Coke Machine Glow, Downie’s first solo effort, is somewhat
reminiscent of the work he’s done with The Tragically Hip… at
least in my admittedly limited dealings with his full-time project.
At times melodic and beautiful, at times experimental and
confusing, this is a disc which, at the very least, cannot be
called dull. Awkward, yes; dull, no.
I guess that anyone who is familiar with The Tragically Hip will
be ready for Downie’s stream-of-consciousness musical approach,
grabbing whatever genre seems to fit the mood and working it into a
musical stew. And, at times, this works with incredible results.
Downie must have gotten hold of some Chris Issak albums before
going in to record this disc, as “Trick Rider” sounds akin to the
“Wicked Game” crooner with its light country airs. “Elaborate” is
similar, though it’s much less successful.
Downie also shows he’s learned his lessons with the Hip, as
songs such as “Vancouver Divorce,” “SF Song” and “Chancellor” all
are quirky but charming in their own ways – often deviating from
the previous song musically in ways the casual listener would not
expect. Sure, it’s the musical equivalent of being in a prize
fight, but Downie makes it kind of interesting to follow… at
least for the first half.
Where
Coke Machine Glow starts to fall apart first is in the
spoken-word pieces. “Starpainters,” which opens the album, is okay,
but nothing great; had this been the only example, it would have at
least been managable. But there are no less than three such pieces
on this disc – the last one, “Insomniacs Of The World, Good Night,”
being incredibly difficult to get through. If it had been a
one-minute track, it would have been sufferable; at over five
minutes, it’s grating.
The other difficulty with
Coke Machine Glow is that Downie is not able to maintain the
level of musical creativity and interest on the second half of the
disc. Tracks like “Mystery,” “Yer Possessed” and “Every
Irrelevance” just don’t have the same snap that the outstanding
songs do – and it sometimes feels like Downie is being trapped by
his own preconceived notions of his music.
Maybe it’s that
Coke Machine Glow tries to do too much for a first effort.
Maybe it’s that Downie is too intertwined as the leader of The
Tragically Hip to make a musical statement that would make
listeners forget about his “day job”. Maybe it’s that the second
half of this disc just isn’t as strong as the first.
Coke Machine Glow is an album that tries, and Downie does a
halfway decent job of making his own voice heard. If only this had
been a strong album – not a strong half-album.