Artist : Cass Mccombs
Title : Not The Way
Year : 2002
Label : 4Ad
Genre : Indie
Comments (if any):
Great stuff... Some well produced songs about summer days, clowns, birthday parties, ice-cream
and running across a meadow into the arms of a lover as the birds sing in the sky, the lambs
gambol about, the fluffy bunnies do what fluffy bunnies do and the world gently turns in a
euphoria of niceness....Who says 4ad can't produce a pop hit?
Fair enough... you got me... It's not like that at all... In fact it's dark, slightly dismal,
introspective, under-produced acoustically inclined solo indie guitar stuff in a similar vein to Red
House Painters... Probably requires more than one listen but is worth it if you're prepared to
give it the time.
Standout Track/s (if any):
Given time the whole album hangs together well...
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Review / Notes (if any):
New York singer-songwriter Cass McCombs seems quite timid on his debut EP, Not the Way. The
combination of lo-fi instrumentation and vocal reverb often makes it seem as if McCombs is
trying to hide or shy away. It?s unfortunate, because his songs have a raw and simple quality
that often sound as if they would be best suited to a clean, crisp and honest recording.
Indeed, while the amateurish and imprecise quality of the recording can be endearing, it also
wears thin or unnecessarily detracts from otherwise pristine melodies.
McCombs pulls pages from any number of similar such artists Elliott Smith, Damien Jurado,
Neil Young but emerges with a sound that is quite unique. McCombs? voice is sometimes buried
under reverb, sometimes overtaken by guitar, and sometimes just generally obscured. The strain
that he seems to put on it can give it a pained honesty, but it can just as often give it a
Noel Gallagher-like whine. It?s only when he sings at full volume and within his natural range
that his voice becomes as effective as it should be. On So Damn Pure,McCombs opens with a fractured
ascending vocal that stretches wide to carry his melodies. It?s slightly jarring, especially sung
over slightly out-of-tune guitar. But when, during the chorus, he switches to a descending melody,
he sounds more at ease, and more effective.
Not the Way is a rewarding listen, but not one that is likely to impress many on the first time
around. Throughout the EP, the relatively simple distractions can sometimes overtake the quality
of the songs enough that, in such a crowded genre, many may choose to pass quick and, unfortunately,
negative judgment. But in the end it?s McCombs? delicately simple and deceptively catchy
songwriting that helps to distinguish him from the legions of other similar such artists. Not the
Way isn?t immediately striking in any sense: Not in its mid-fi recording timbre, nor in McCombs?
slightly high-pitched voice, nor in his lazily strummed guitar. Yet his songs have a quality a
sincerity about them that makes them as compelling as they are nondescript.
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