{"id":1243884,"date":"2018-05-03T08:50:32","date_gmt":"2018-05-03T12:50:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/?p=1243884"},"modified":"2018-05-03T09:58:48","modified_gmt":"2018-05-03T13:58:48","slug":"mr-husband-silvertone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/2018\/05\/03\/mr-husband-silvertone\/","title":{"rendered":"Mr. Husband: ‘Silvertone’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"\u201cNothing about the music\u2019s a joke. It\u2019s all earnest and I think it\u2019s there for you if you want to receive it earnestly.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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So said Kenny Tompkins on an episode of \u201cFrederick One Take\u201d that featured his band, Mr. Husband. He was asked if his songs were supposed to be taken in jest because \u2026 well, have you seen him in that Mr. Husband get-up?! Transforming into a character all its own, complete with jean jacket, all-American headband and a mane of hair that would make Derek Smalls blush, the Mr. Husband persona is Frederick\u2019s version of Father John Misty. Sure, the whole thing might just be Tompkins doing a bit, but none of that should demean the quality of the music.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Or, in other words, for as unserious as the guy might appear to be, the music itself is very seriously good.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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That continues with his band\u2019s latest eight\u2014song effort, \u201cSilvertone.\u201d Decidedly more stripped down than their debut, \u201cPlaid On Plaid,\u201d this set presents the trio, ironically, in a more realistic light. Here, lush effects that are typically associated with Tompkins\u2019 Brian Wilson-esque vocals are toned down, and the end product feels like it was borne out of a more raw approach. Even Chris Morris\u2019s drums feel more authentic, the presence of today\u2019s studio trickery absent from his exceptionally solid playing. In truth, this effort amounts to the moment the real Mr. Husband stands up.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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And it works. Opener \u201cDream Driver\u201d harks back to the days when college radio rock was less mainstream and more genuine, effects-less drums throwing the party and a good, old-fashioned \u201cone, two, one, two, three, four\u201d announcing the rest of the band. Keeping up with the driving pace that Morris sets, it\u2019s a simple song, relying heavily on momentum largely created by Jason Reeder\u2019s persistent bass. Throw in a mildly surprising Tompkins guitar solo, and you have just enough of a left turn to make you think that the rest of the album is going to be a bit more exciting than previously thought.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The highest level of intrigue comes when Tompkins trades in his falsetto-laden vocal approach for something more soulful. Case in point is \u201cYellow,\u201d which features perhaps the most memorable moment Mr. Husband himself offers on the mic as the chorus winds down. The music breaking, Tompkins is left by himself to go for it. He delivers in a way we\u2019ve rarely heard before, making him appear more human than ever as he demands something as simple as \u201cI want to see it now.\u201d Upbeat and sunny, there\u2019s no reason it shouldn\u2019t appear on a playlist alongside bands like Real Estate and Beach Fossils.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Not everything is clear skies, however. \u201cLiving In Dreams,\u201d while infectious and valuable, perhaps recalls too much of \u201cPlaid On Plaid,\u201d echoing the Husband sound in ways that don\u2019t move the template forward enough. Ditto for \u201cLaying Low,\u201d which gains points for a guitar line that nearly mimics the 1965 hit \u201cA Groovy Kind Of Love,\u201d but ultimately fades into relative obscurity when you consider its surrounding universe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Fear not, though, because Tompkins saves the best for last. The closing trio of \u201cBrainheart,\u201d \u201cHoly Kaleidoscope\u201d and \u201cA Night Like Today\u201d is the strongest string of songs this band has produced to date. \u201cBrainheart\u201d is both heartbreaking and depressive in the same brilliant ways that the songwriter\u2019s brilliant hero so brilliantly pulled it off half a century ago. Just listen to the first few lines: \u201cI\u2019ve been waking up\/Putting on my shoes\/I\u2019ve been doing all the things\/I\u2019m supposed to do.\u201d It works because of the inherent sadness Tompkins effortlessly displays in his voice, undoubtedly making at least a few Beach Boys proud.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cHoly Kaleidoscope\u201d follows that up with a shot of tropic indie pop that would fit in just as well at Coachella as it would at a 1965 high school prom. \u201cLush\u201d is a word too often used when describing the Mr. Husband oeuvre, but there isn\u2019t really a better word to cite while listening to the backing harmonies giving that toe-tapping groove a soft place to land. Morris\u2019s verse-bridging fills are a sweet treat, too, on top of such top-shelf candy store couture.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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And then there\u2019s \u201cA Night Like Today.\u201d The rawest of them all, the album closer dismantles the layers synonymous with a Mr. Husband release and leaves room for little more than Tompkins and his acoustic guitar, marking the distinct line where Mr. Husband ends and Kenny Tompkins begins. Taking his voice down a register grants the song a levity unheard elsewhere, and when he bleeds the line \u201cI could take you in my arms and make everything OK, and I\u2019d love you on a night just like today,\u201d your body would be forgiven if a swarm of goosebumps waged war against it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Thus proving, once again, that Mr. Husband is far from a joke, and suggesting that \u201cSilvertone,\u201d despite its name, is probably worth more than its weight in gold.<\/p>\n

*** 3 STARS OUT OF 4 ***<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cNothing about the music\u2019s a joke. It\u2019s all earnest and I think it\u2019s there for you if you want to receive it earnestly.\u201d So said Kenny Tompkins on an episode…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1243885,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1243884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1243884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1243884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1243884\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1243885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1243884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1243884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1243884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}