Gunn adds ‘twists’ to folk-rock album

Dando’s ‘Varshons 2’

By Pablo Gorondi teven Gunn,“The

SUnseen In Between” (Matador) Steve Gunn has teamed up with stellar musicians over the years, from Kurt Vile to Michael Chapman, and his own albums – little gems like “Time Off,” ‘’Way Out Weather” and “Eyes on the Lines” – offer plenty of proof of his adventurousness.

On “The Unseen In Between,” some of the stories are Gunn’s own, and the intimacy puts a captivating twist on his guitar-led folk-rock album, a personable collection that never stops being gentle even when ramping up the intensity.

On “New Moon,” Tony Garnier’s acoustic bass, a trebly Johnny Marr-like electric guitar, and succulent strings underpin a refrain – “All goes up and now it’s gone/I have never known you but just hang on” – that’s as haunting as the echo-laden harmonica that follows it.

Gunn’s finger-picked acoustic guitar and Garnier’s bass are the foundations for “Stonehurst Cowboy,” which pays tribute to Gunn’s late father – a Vietnam vet – while beautifully evoking the changes he can’t help but notice in his parents’ Southwest Philadelphia neighborhood: “Faces are gone/Backgrounds still the same.”

“Vagabond,” inspired by the eponymous Agnes Varda film, describes cinematographic characters such as graveyard cleaners and unsuccessful artists, as Gunn weaves multiple guitars into a dense blend, arrangements repeated with similar effectiveness on “Chance,” with a parking lot as living environment.

A store owner and his cat tenant are the subject of “Luciano,” where, not for the first time, echoes of John Martyn abound, while the sounds on closer “Paranoid” – described by Gunn as a “surf ballad” – seem inspired by John Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band.

Gunn’s trademark wondrous guitars abound on “The Unseen In Between” but it’s the quality of the songs they serve that makes the unnoticed such a joy to hear.

Gunn

2” (Fire Records) Cover versions have played a conflicting role for Evan Dando and The Lemonheads, their takes on “Luka” and “Mrs Robinson” clearing paths but also boxing them in for some listeners.

Nonetheless, 2009’s “Varshons” – with songs by Gram Parsons, Wire and Leonard Cohen, among others – was hailed as an excellent if stopgap effort until the surely imminent release of original material.

Barely a decade on, “Vershons 2” follows up and reprises the quality of its predecessor but hopes for a full album of self-penned material have mostly dissipated. So get used to Evan Dando as interpreter instead of songwriter – with so long between releases, there’ll be plenty of time to adjust.

In most cases, Dando respects the original arrangements, with his de-stressed and bittersweet vocals adding an extra layer of emotion to excellent songs, like Paul Westerberg’s “Things,” NRBQ’s “Magnet,” and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds’ “Straight to You.”

Nashville’s Natural Child get a tip of the hat with “Now and Then,” which has three guitarists, a “Brimful of Asha”-like rhythm and will hopefully send listeners their way. On some tracks – John Prine’s “Speed of the Sound of Loneliness” and Lucinda Williams’ “Abandoned,” for example – Dando picks up some of the vocal fingerprints of the originals, which comes across as endearing where it could be irritating.

Marciana Jones – part of TSP with Dando and Willy Mason – contributes some excellent backing vocals throughout and shares the spotlight with Dando on the Jayhawks’ “Settled Down Like Rain.” Other bands covered include Yo La Tengo, The Bevis Frond, and country duo Florida Georgia Line.

Is closer “Take It Easy,” the Eagles’ anthem of the laid back, Dando’s tongue-in-cheek allusion to his slacker tag? Is “Varshons 3” next or, at long last, his own songs? Better have a seat while you wait.

The Lemonheads,“Varshons

Joe Jackson,“Fool”

(earMUSIC) Joe Jackson and his band went straight from the stage to the studio to record “Fool,” and his 20th studio album displays plenty of the dynamics and energy usually found in live performances.

Released nearly 40 years to the day after “Look Sharp!” – his landmark 1979 debut – the songs on “Fool” are full of momentum, musings on the grinds and pleasures of modern living, and sounds that echo different stages of Jackson’s long career, a master class in never settling in one style for too long. While Jackson says he’s unsure about the strength of the vinyl revival, he nonetheless envisioned the 43-minute collection as “two complementary sides,” comedy and tragedy. Luckily, it sounds just fine on CD and download, too.

Opener “Big Black Cloud” rumbles storm-like as every component of the keyboards-guitar-bass-drum quartet gets its own space and Jackson paints a dire picture of middle-class existence. “Fabulously Absolute” has plenty of verve, keyboard sounds that could be from both the late Keith Emerson or Weezer and the perspective of a “deplorable” who can’t help having a rough time fitting in.

“Friend Better” rounds out the phrase beginning with “lover good,” with another unmistakable Jackson piano part harkening back to 1982’s “Night and Day,” one of his most successful releases. “32 Kisses” is about a couple that grows “from kids to man and wife,” though apparently without a fairytale ending, while “Alchemy,” a classy ballad, invokes the wonder and mystery magicians can conjure out thin air.

Then there’s longtime Jackson associate Graham Maby’s serpentine bass solo on the title track. Only a fool would expect them to look any sharper.

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