Damien Jurado - Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son

Damien Jurado
Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son
21 January 2014
Secretly Canadian

3.5 stars out of 5

 

Seattle native Damien Jurado’s eleventh studio album is a tribute to the Californian psychedelic sunshine pop of the late 1960s, with nods to various other musical locales in the Wild West. Diverse in its influences yet unified in its presentation, Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son is ambitious and polished in its arrangements and production but never feels stiff or needlessly glossy.

“Magic Number” sets the tone, Jurado’s soft yet assertive falsetto haunting the spaces between the bounding bass and the reverb-washed atmospherics. “Silver Timothy,” complete with retro-sounding bass and acid-fuelled keyboards, points to The Byrds and Buffalo Springfield as guests of honour at the party. The Morricone-tinged “Return to Maraqopa” marches through a sun-drenched western ghost town like a carnival looking for a place to pitch its tents but finding no spectators. “Jericho Road” takes the highway from Bakersfield down to Todos los Santos to hang out in the Hotel California. “Silver Donna” kicks off the movement of the four contiguous “Silvers,” sprawling its not-quite-jamming but still loose and improvisational textures over six minutes. Next up is “Silver Malcolm,” a study in effects and details over a laid-back country rock structure. “Silver Katherine,” a rare acoustic guitar-driven track on the LP, while owing more to Grizzly Bear than Bakersfield, fits seamlessly between “Malcolm” and “Joy,” the last of the “Silvers,” also the most stripped-down and intimate song Jurado presents on Brothers and Sisters.

Jurado bows off the stage with “Suns in Our Mind,” the oddest composition of the lot in that it carries the least amount of twang, instead recalling the British psychedelia of the late ‘60s. It’s an interesting if subtle genre-switch, perhaps hinting at future paths of experimentation, perhaps winking everything you’ve just heard away as an elaborate prank. Either way, this is a solid album from a talented song crafter.

reviewed by Richard Krueger