Boston favorite the Grand Undoing’s In a Vigil State is a showcase for the talents of main guy Seth Goodman and his band.
This is a true rock-pop-folk album that touches, to quote the great Howard Devoto (of the band Magazine fame), “a song from under the floorboards.” Yet amid the tough-and-tattooed valid rock music, there pulses with Rocky Horror’s Eddie (aka Meat Loaf) irresistible “hot patootie-bless my soul” authority, an infectious melodic desire to just let the big-time rock ‘n’ roll hooks burn. And this album does that: In a Vigil State burns an ever-clever intense rock pulse.
“Into the Glitter” is an opening move with grand (no pun intended) expectations as it glances slightly at David Bowie’s “Five Years,” but yearns for a much larger cinema screen. Not unlike the Thin White Duck himself at his must dramatic, Seth Goodman’s vocals explode, while the music creates tension – a tension that is finally unleashed with an ending that crumbles away. And, thankfully, despite the song’s suspect glam-rock title, it never bothers with make-up and the odd leotard.
Next, “A Little Piece of Ground” ups the piano-paced caffeine ante and bounces with a punched melody worthy of Elvis Costello, circa Imperial Bedroom. And the weird voices at the end just add a bit of off-kilter fun. Odd, amid the rock stuff, legendary pedal-steel guy B.J. Cole (of ’70s English country-rock band Cochise) adds a sepia tinge to the music.
“Highway (You Can Ride Away)” is a big wide-open ballad that touches the words of Graham Parker, that state, “passion is no ordinary word.” There’s a sublime slow-dance guitar solo that gazes with wonder at the night-time stars in the dark sky. Given the context of rock ‘n’ roll music, the tune has the huge pulse of a big-hearted straight-flush poker hand.
“Wave” is a brilliant off-hand comment of a song, the kind of rock remake that fueled all the great post-punk bands who fused really decent melodies into a tough three-minute tune. Big comment: the falsetto vocal bit rekindles the memory of the great Jackie Leven (he of Doll by Doll and solo fame). And there’s a sax in the mix to boot!
Lots of name-dropping here, but put simply: This is great classic-rock song writing. As Canada’s iconic classic-rock player Burton Cummings (of the Guess Who’s “American Woman” and “Share the Land” fame) once sang in “Glamour Boy”: “Don’t you want to take time to sing and play an honest song for the people tonight?”
A Vigil State spins honest rock songs that are both clever and melodic. That’s a tough tightrope to walk. Great rock records somehow (even in the fickle tides of the music biz) swim in deep river currents and have no interest in pop-chart sunshine yet, somehow, bubble with baubles of infectious updrafts with pretty cool melodies. That’s the gist of the Grand Undoing’s In a Vigil State.
Of course, there’s always a lot more: “See All I See” gets Seth Goodman’s falsetto mojo working again as he sings a soulful song with languid chords and big dramatic keyboards that wander (albeit briefly) into prog land. It’s almost an interlude with its moment of introspection. “Darkness” throbs and wobbles in pop-psych orbit, with a truly great pop-psych orbit chorus. “Sunsetter” pumps the rock ‘n’ roll tires, and suddenly inflates with a “crossfire hurricane” of a guitar solo, before the tune escapes into psych-reverb land.
The final songs just prolong the passion. “Silver Songs” struts with backstreet Americana insight and an anthemic Bruce Springsteen-like chorus. “Step In” is quick, honest, explosive, and yeah it too is “born to run.” It’s a bit of a knife blade of a tune. And “Giving All My Things Away” eases the throttle, just gloriously singing the last hours of a splendid vacation with glorious autumnal colors that simply (and inevitably) fade into the final run off grooves of any pretty great American rock-music record album.
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