ARTIST: 31Knots
TITLE: Worried Well
LABEL: Polyvinyl
GENRE: Indie
BITRATE: 170kbps avg
PLAYTIME: 0h 43m total
RELEASE DATE: 2008-08-19
RIP DATE: 2008-08-28
Track List
----------
1. Baby of Riots 0:43
2. Certificate 3:29
3. The Breaks 3:32
4. Something Up There This Way 4:58
Comes
5. Take Away The Landscape 2:45
6. Strange Kicks 3:58
7. Opaque 3:26
8. Worried But Not Well 4:33
9. Compass Commands 3:28
10. Statistics and the Heart of Man 4:20
11. Upping the Mandate 5:15
12. Between 1&2 3:11
Release Notes:
Just over a year ago, it really seemed like 31Knots was getting somewhere. After
a number of albums, their promise really started to take shape with Talk Like
Blood and the Polemics EP. And 2007Æs The Days and Nights of Everything Anywhere
made good on that promise. It was as expansive as its title, without any of that
nameÆs ambiguity. It combined their skewed guitar rock with elements of harsh
electronica, and rode a three-ring circus of drama where Joe Haege served as the
resident hocker, shouting his political diatribes with just enough
self-deprecation to make them work. The band looked to have hit their stride.
Which is what makes Worried Well so perplexing, and disappointing. The
progression theyÆd shown on their last few records hits a wall here, and the
album retreads old ideas while stripping them of their strengths. The result is
an album that is not only uneven, but lacks the knockout punches that kept any
of the bandÆs previous albums afloat even when they went off course.
Right off the bat, something seems off. ôCertificateöùthe first real track after
an unnecessary intro trackùsounds too polished, the bandÆs usual guitar edge
sanded down and tamed. ôThe Breaksö tries to incorporate the blips of
electronica that worked so well on Days and Nights, but rather than bolster the
track, they draw attention to how little is going on in the song. Even the new
sweetness built into HaegeÆs shoutùwhich is one of a few nice new additions to
their soundùcanÆt make the song more than an awkward whine. ôTake Away the
Landscapeö is mirrored after some more textured tracks from the bandÆs past,
such as ôEverything in Lettersö, but it ignores the bandÆs sense of rhythm,
which is the one thing they canÆt operate without.
The album does have moments that work, in their way. ôSomething Up Here This Way
Comesö is a fuzzed-out rocker, with a nice combination of scuffed atmosphere and
irrepressible energy. And ôStrange Kicksö is easily the best track, with
rolling, quirky piano verses that break apart into hand-clapped and
group-shouted choruses, all wrapped in an affective distance. In that song, you
can feel the bandÆs frustration more than when having Haege shouting it at you.
But even with those bright spots, the album sets itself up to fail. HaegeÆs
political ranting here is played straight, with little in the way of irony, and
it comes off as irritatingly pretentious. He seems to be shouting down to his
audience, instead of shouting for change along with them. Worried Well is also a
poorly-timed and unfailingly negative record released in a time that, for people
on Joe HaegeÆs side of the fence, should be full of hope and possibility. For
those hoping for a change in the political climateùand 31Knots surely is (and
theyÆre hardly alone)ùnow should be the moment when they embrace new chances
rather than clinging to old or lingering frustrations. And when Haege sings ôYou
live on a black listö in ôThe Breaksö, invoking once again a Big Brother
picture, it rings empty. 31Knots have shown before that they can oppose the
establishment with thoughtful and fun music, but they donÆt seem to be having
any fun on Worried Well. They sound worn out by the struggle in a time where one
more burst of energy, from them or anyone, can go a long way.