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Track Listings
| 1. Let's Move To The Country |
| 2. Held |
| 3. River Guard |
| 4. No Dancing |
| 5. Teenage Spaceship |
| 6. Cold Blooded Old Times |
| 7. Sweet Treat |
| 8. Hit the Ground Running |
| 9. I Could Drive Forever |
| 10. Left Only With Love |
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk
One of the more hauntingly visionary indie-rock artists, Bill Callahan, a.k.a. Smog, writes sparse, poignant songs that shimmer with solipsistic grandeur. His sixth full-length disc, Knock Knock, shivers with restlessness, recounting forlorn tales of imprisoned convicts ("River Guard"), disenfranchised country boys ("Hit the Ground Running"), and unrequited love ("Left Only with Love"). Smog is too well-produced to qualify as lo-fi anymore, but the rich strings, chiming piano, and baleful strums of Knock Knock never detract from the workingman's loneliness of the disc. Like Neil Young's Tonight's the Night, only without the nasal vocals, the album is serene and sedate but nonetheless unsettling, as if the collective scene Callahan creates is merely the calm before the storm. Fortunately, when the melodies seem to drift too close to comatose, the shuffling beat and drifting feedback of "Held", the distorted chug of "No Dancing", and the jangly strum of "Cold Blooded Old Times" keep the needle from flatlining. --Jon Wiederhorn
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By klaher
Format:Audio CD
Bill Callahan again worked with Jim O'Rourke on this 1999 album. It's more expansive and diverse than previous album Red Apple Falls, indeed poppier, though it features a downright odd picture of a cat on the front!
The album opens with a sparse simple track, Let's Move To The Country, consisting of Bill Callahan singing over a cello and a barely strummed guitar, but he follows this up with guitar anthem Held, which contains a great riff and beat. River Guard is a somewhat lengthy track, starting with the merest of guitar strums, before a wonderful piano part enters the mix. It's a beautiful melody which builds up with percussion and more piano, before a grear electric guitar before the end and gripping images in the lyrics ("stand there on a cliff with gooseflesh").
He completely changes the mood with the first of his experiments featuring a children's choir, the throwaway No Dancing, to which he sees fit to add heavy guitar and horns. He called this his album for teenagers, though I can't imagine this being a teen anthem, however singalong it is! Teenage Spaceship is another brooding track with more gorgeous piano, while Cold Blooded Old Times is another uptempo, poppy tune featuring "the type of memories that turn your bones to glass" over strummed guitar.
After the moody Sweet Treat, Hit The Ground Running is another track featuring the children's choir over a Velvet Underground-ish groove while Bill Callahan drawls agreeably through the song. The final 2 tracks return to the default Smog setting of sparseness. The album is a bit all over the place so it's not a good one in terms of setting a mood, but it is probably his most trademark album in terms of the `Smog sound'.
The album opens with a sparse simple track, Let's Move To The Country, consisting of Bill Callahan singing over a cello and a barely strummed guitar, but he follows this up with guitar anthem Held, which contains a great riff and beat. River Guard is a somewhat lengthy track, starting with the merest of guitar strums, before a wonderful piano part enters the mix. It's a beautiful melody which builds up with percussion and more piano, before a grear electric guitar before the end and gripping images in the lyrics ("stand there on a cliff with gooseflesh").
He completely changes the mood with the first of his experiments featuring a children's choir, the throwaway No Dancing, to which he sees fit to add heavy guitar and horns. He called this his album for teenagers, though I can't imagine this being a teen anthem, however singalong it is! Teenage Spaceship is another brooding track with more gorgeous piano, while Cold Blooded Old Times is another uptempo, poppy tune featuring "the type of memories that turn your bones to glass" over strummed guitar.
After the moody Sweet Treat, Hit The Ground Running is another track featuring the children's choir over a Velvet Underground-ish groove while Bill Callahan drawls agreeably through the song. The final 2 tracks return to the default Smog setting of sparseness. The album is a bit all over the place so it's not a good one in terms of setting a mood, but it is probably his most trademark album in terms of the `Smog sound'.
By Mr. A. Jones
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Quite simply, this album is perfect. I brought it on a whim after reading up on the band and have never looked back. I have since gone back and ordered the entire back catalouge i was impressed that much. To make a comparison with other bands, i would have to say Tindersticks and Richard Hawley, but that wouldnt be fair. Smog sound like Smog, and you should all own this album
3 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By Darryl Still
Format:Audio CD
After 5 solid, interesting but low key albums, Bill Callahan's Smog have finally cracked it. With his best tunes yet like "Hit the ground running" and "Cold blooded old times" this is not only Smog's best album yet, but one of the essential purchases of 1999.
If you havn't yet discovered the pleasures of Smog this is the perfect place to start.
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4.4 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
knock knock. whos there.......
me. an ive got yor wife an kids unless you pay up.
yeh it be a real nice album. some say it be too poppy. but not i. for i like it. Read more
yeh it be a real nice album. some say it be too poppy. but not i. for i like it. Read more
Published 24 months ago by luvtodog. woofwoof.
5.0 out of 5 stars
floating downstream..............
Still listening to knock knock again and again and again years after buying it. This LP is one of the strongest USA indie LP's of the 90's. Read more
Published on 16 May 2008 by Stephen Potter
5.0 out of 5 stars
Smog's Finest
I love this album.
It's produced by Jim O'Rourke who for me, is the indie Jeff Lynne. He brings out the more accesible side of artists. Read more
Published on 5 Feb 2006
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is decent music and if you like decent music buy it
This is decent music and decent music should not need comparisons for promotion - just give it a go.
Why is it decent? Read more
Why is it decent? Read more
Published on 4 Jan 2002
3.0 out of 5 stars
Leonard Cohen meets Lou Reed on a slightly overcast day
Rather dark, singer song writer folky type music with a number of references to childhood. Each song is a nostalgic journey; easy to have as background music until you listen to... Read more
Published on 15 Aug 2000
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