CASS MCCOMBS

BIG WHEEL AND OTHERS (Domino)

16/20

Cass McCombs is one of the old guard, a musician with a deft touch whose songs contain whole narrative worlds. His are stories which are not always linear or lucid, but are always full of character and heart, a canyon away from anything written to bother the charts. After releasing two albums in one year (Wit’s End and Humour Risk) in 2011, Big Wheel and Others is another double-length record, this time presented in one go. Yet, as the incidental title suggests, there is no grand prog-esque ‘theme’ or ‘message’ being ostentatiously expounded. Rather, this is another collection of songs from an enigmatic artist who channels his everyday existence into music which is by turns touching, dark, and joyous. For nigh on 90 minutes Cass wanders through folk and country-tinged numbers formed from slide guitar and soft, yearning vocals. Popping up in amongst these are surreal conversations with four-year-old Sean about dreams, police and smoking grass, a shuffling rock song with the brilliantly glam title Satan Is My Toy, and a nine-minute conversational centrepiece which channels the late Lou Reed, Everything Has To Be Just-So. The Burning of the Temple, 2012 is brushed with midnight saxophone, and Brighter! is given two outings, the second of which features Karen Black lending a lamenting beauty to Cass’s original rendition. Presenting both versions on the album gives added poignancy to Black’s loss to cancer scarcely three months ago. Cass McCombs is an understated talent, but it’s difficult to think of a contemporary artist who makes songwriting such an effortless craft and plays with such delicate and consummate musicianship.

– – – – – – – – – – –

Words: Andrew Broaks