Jason Collett - Here’s To Being Here
Ex-BSS member creates his own sound
Remember the brat pack? I mean the original brat pack back in the eighties - not these six degrees, “I Know What You Can’t Hardly Scream” cast of crap. I’m talking the Judd Nelson pre flip out, Anthony Michael Hall nerd genre adored eighties super-group. Can I get a ‘boogada-boogada-ah-ah-ah?’ God I miss those days. Thankfully, what I lack in Tinseltown glory at present is more than made up melodically by our Red Dawn afterbirth of the Great North. Canada has its own brat bundle of musical genius proportions in the form of Broken Social Scene. Kevin Drew, Leslie Feist, Dave Newfeld, and Emily Haines all hailed from this seemingly unstoppable indie vortex to produce greater parts of its original whole with well received solo releases. With the others garnering all the iTunes airtime and press as of late, member Jason Collett has little hope to bask in the same rays of praise. Although with his recent stunner, Here’s To Being Here, he deserves such rapture and so much more.
The album succeeds off a hale and hearty diet of guitar and taste. From the Dylan-esq swayed ‘Out of Time’ and ‘Through The Night These Days’ to the summer night breeziness of slide string number ‘Sorry Lori’, you can tell Being Here pays homage to musical simplicity; an ensemble effort that pulls from every instrument and player equally to generate a true mob character. Even the oozing Wings pianos of ‘Henry’s Song’ immediately takes aim at what is missing from today’s landscape - hammering away on keys, crashing cymbals, and solo guitar grandstanding with obnoxious brilliance. Much of its dynamic can be attributed to the live studio sessions where-in the energy seemingly bleeds from each player’s brow. From Andrew Whitman’s plucky bass to Howie Beck’s everyman/everywhere approach, the entire album teeters between classic rock and country swing with ease. Look no further than the banjo and porch stomp number ‘No Redemption Song’ for proof.
Where Collett falters, if only slightly, is when he refuses to let loose. Where former BSS member and friend Kevin Drew seemingly blew his own doors off the creative hinges, Collett instead stays rockabilly; when he so wants to jam. Think Tom Petty Wallflowers and you are already caught in the safety net of Here’s to Being Here. ‘Not Over You’ and ‘Papercut Hearts’ are glaring examples where its either too manufactured or lacks the panache of its surrounding members to carry it over. Save for those few moments of instability, Being Here delivers a great piece of old American rock that deserves a spot in anyone’s collection.
Sean Kendall
