Published on Nov 5, 2004
Once upon a time there was a little band from Minneapolis that
could… and did.
The career of Semisonic — a trio of multi-instrumentalists with
a gift for clever, melodic modern rock — to date forms a perfect
parabola. From the cool, comfy confines of the upper Midwest they
progressed from a self-produced EP (1995’s
Pleasure) to a moderately successful major-label full-length
(1996’s
Great Divide), to a full-fledged hit album (1998’s
Feeling Strangely Fine, featuring the massive international
hit “Closing Time”), to a subpar follow-up album (2001’s
All About Chemistry), to fading media interest, to getting
dropped by MCA.
Their most recent disc, the self-published live compilation
One Night At First Avenue is, in its own way, the
mirror-image of the
Pleasure EP. With their fifteen minutes of fame apparently
past, the band that appeared to the East and West Coasts to have
risen from nowhere, went home. First Avenue is one of the
Minneapolis clubs Semisonic used to play before MTV started
spinning their videos, before they got nominated for a Grammy,
before their worlds were turned inside out by the fame machine.
One Night offers a tidy encapsulation of the Semisonic’s
recording career, including songs from their initial EP (the local
favorite “Sculpture Garden”) all the way through to the one
soundtrack placement (“Over My Head”) they scored after
All About Chemistry.
Semisonic’s self-invented genre might be termed love songs for
geek-rockers. They revel in taking words like “fascinating” and
“delightful,” welding them to fat rock riffs that stick in your
brain like an AC/DC chorus, and then layering on keys and strings
and loops for depth and texture. The challenge then becomes, how do
three guys with just two hands and two feet apiece translate those
full, textured studio creations into compelling live
renditions?
I’m still not sure how they pull it off, having never caught
them live, but all three guys — lead vocalist/guitarist Dan
Wilson, bassist John Munson and drummer Jacob Slichter — are
credited with playing both their main instruments and keyboards on
this disc. One clue: I’ve read that Slichter’s road kit includes a
set-up that allows him to trigger samples with his feet, a nice
little trick.
That said, there’s also some interest in observing how these
songs strip down a bit in a live setting. The now guitar-less
“Never You Mind” (Wilson plays piano instead) relies here on
Munson’s amped-up, rumbly bass line and Slichter’s loping yet
complex time-keeping. The way they execute the bridge is especially
nifty; the studio version featured dreamy, slowed-down tape
effects, which they duplicate live using only their own ability to
change tempo on a dime while simultaneously singing dreamy
three-part background harmonies.
Wilson, whose airy voice contrasts nicely with his heavy, often
reverbed guitar style, solos passionately and tastefully on the
band’s ill-fated (and aptly-named) first single “Down In Flames.”
Absent the layered sound of their studio work, the songs do suffer
in places, and Wilson occasionally struggles to hit notes with his
vocals. Fortunately, the teasing wit and brilliant rock hooks of
numbers like “Secret Smile,” “F.N.T.” and “Delicious” ensures these
minor blemishes are quickly forgiven.
One Night At First Avenue captures Semisonic in their
second-most natural environment (after a well-equipped studio), and
serves as a worthwhile document of a too-brief career that one
hopes may yet re-ignite.