The Gap
(Jade Tree)
Tim Kinsella is one weird dude. Who else would have a song called “As Black Pants Make Cat Hairs Appear” that contains a series of lyrics like the following: “Who’d have known in farming communities in central Illinois/as early as the mid 1950’s/Catholic priests had already invented altar boys?/Cocky and sweet-cheeked/ 13-year old kids”? Kinsella and his Joan of Arc have made a record about as far out there as you can get and still get in under the “indie rock” banner that these guys are managing to hold onto. This record seems to have some sort of underlying theme about America or something, but, or the life of me (and I’ve personally listened to this album at least 15x) I can’t figure it out. I have come up with the following observations that I would like to share with all you dear readers:
Song number five has one of the greatest titles of all time, “Another Brick at the Gap (part 2)”. I swear that my cd skips during the first song (and I am not making this title up by the way) “(You) {I} Can Not See (You) as {I} (You) Can” (and maybe that title right there should tell us all a little something about Kinsella---maybe he just thinks nobody is gonna understand how he feels and where he is coming from anyway), but I listened to another copy and sure enough, it’s just cut-up and made to seem like it is skipping. The cover idea on this disc is fantastic and beautiful, an outline of each band member playing their instruments, with their image filled in by a photograph of the interior of this glassy building, which (I think) is reproduced in full on the back cover. The music on this record is baroque, fragmented, stop/start, difficult, demanding (although “Me and America (or) The United Colors of the Gap” does have a very catchy string riff) and really, unlike any contemporary “rock” music being made today. I think it would be great if they had those little girls on the newest line of Gap commercials lip-synching to this album instead of the Kinks or whatever it is (now that would sell some clothes---and records!). This record is also either brilliant or unbelievably (and I mean setting a new all-time record) self-absorbed. I have to admit that at the moment I’m leaning toward the latter, but that might just be because even after all the effort put into trying to get a handle on “The Gap”, (I mean, when was the last time you listened to an album 15 times and still didn’t have any clue if it was any good) I feel no closer to getting it than I was before. Come to think of it, that might be my answer right there. Well, let me just say this: buyer beware!! Before you fall into this “Gap”, make sure you leave a trail of something so you can find your way out!
Stinkweeds, 2000
