Compiled together this trilogy of novels from late Modernity/Lost Generation writer John Dos Passos is a missing link to historical fiction novels today. In addition, as told in its most Joycean terms, "U.S.A." conforms biography into storytelling with the same skill as 20th Century Literature.
Written in three parts ("The 42nd Parallel (1930), "1919 (1932,"), and "The Big Money (1936,") Dos Passos's major work possibly escaped popularity because of their publication during the Great Depression. As a "collective novel," Dos Passos is channeling the artistic changes imposed by Modernism upon his writing. While it may feel disconnected as you read it, it is not. "The 42nd Parallel" is quite cinematic in its need to balance quality and quantity. Following characters who are struggling just as our nation emerges from its tribulations of the late 1800s, "The 42nd Parallel" lines up its characters in Faulknerian chapter headings and tells their stories almost firsthand. What makes it so enthralling is that you are allowed to clearly deduce that a story that Dos Passos absorbed from someone else morphs into his own.
Born in Chicago to a well-to-do attorney father and a terribly sick mother, when Mac (also known as Fainy) experiences death, the discovery continues to be harrowing but real. As Mac first weathers the death (indirectly) of a neighbor of consumption through the confrontation (directly) of one of his prize rabbits, it is meant to release that childhood mixture of shock and confusion upon the system. However, when Fainy's sick mother passes away, it feels pulled from Dos Passos' own life.
While the subject matter in "The 42nd Parallel" (and the entire trilogy) is meant to be controversial for its time, nearly 100 years later, it seals its importance as an artifact. One of the keys to Dos Passos is not just his separation of characters from each other (although several do cross paths,) it is his allocation of portions for strict storytelling and others to paint pictures of the times and their events.
Song lyrics, headlines, and the film montage-style layering of details signifying the passage of time typically highlight the Newsreels. Their sharply written, jagged mentality is not meant to be detailed. These are facts merely spat out with machine-like precision that frame these first thirty years of what will soon be dubbed "The American Century." Dos Passos takes such pride in this presentation, it is not hard to theorize that perhaps he envisioned these leaps in American importance to the world. In addition, the separate layout does not deter from readability and acts as a precursor for the manufactured "primary source material" that James Ellroy will skillfully use in his trilogy Underworld U.S.A. in the Nineties.
Dos Passos counters the corners of our history with the stream-of-consciousness sections "The Camera Eye." In these long wavering non-sentences, Dos Passos is breaking the rules of Literature with the same aplomb that painters like Picasso were using in Art. Always a fan of Imagic poetry, Dos Passos provides these philosophical prompts where the human mind consumes all of its events, conversations, memories, fantasies, and details to become feelings. Many of these represent his emotions as an ambulance driver, world traveler, and time as a soldier. Perhaps, the great importance of "The Camera Eye" is to send you into his fugue state of dreaming and immersion in thought only to have the bitter reality jerk you out with its parade of austerity and disappointment.
Despite the ambitious size and multi-character description, Dos Passos and his writing are not meant to attract a certain brand of reader. In one swoop, you can be visibly moved by Fainy and Milly being uprooted from Middletown, CT to Chicago, IL. The train ride is at times exhilarating and at others deeply emotional (as are his pencil illustrations that accompany the prose.) Dos Passos saw his writing as "reportage." So as he describes events in his childlike way, he can also superimpose them to recreate the feelings of being overwhelmed.
Fainy's eyes smarted; in his ears the continuous roar, the clatter clatter over crossings, the sudden snarl under bridges. It was a tunnel, all the way to Chicago, it was a tunnel. Opposite him Pop's and Uncle Tim's faces looked red and snarling, he didn't like the way they looked, and the light was smoky and jiggly and outside it was all a tunnel and his eyes hurt and wheels and rails roared in his ears and he fell asleep.
Without too much influence, Dos Passos is creating this accurate and unsympathetic portrait of a nation of immigrants struggling in these newly built ant-hill-like cultures of cities taking one lengthy headlong glimpse into the growing headlights of possibility, success, and collapse coming at them. Ain't that America.
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Mik Davis is the record store manager at T-Bones Records & Cafe in Hattiesburg.
NEW MUSIC This Week
HAL K. - EP-1 (streaming/local) • We lost Hal Kolodney to Nashville. However, based on the four tracks he has been working on for his solo start - Music City is gaining one of our best. Kolodney is a fantastic guitar support for Blues, Country, Rock, and especially Jazz. However, his own lovelorn/confusion statements are purposefully guitar blasts where his six-string typically sings louder than he does. Still, Kolodney has nothing to hide. The lyrics are image-based like flipping through a book of photos. Where his playing (with help from Quinn Mackey from MSPAINT on drums) really helps is the coloring of these emotions. "Wayout" packs a Wednesday-like midtempo punch, but Kolodney and mixer Nick Panella (MSPAINT) have achieved a level of separation that focuses the guitars around his nearly whispered vocals. As a result, the hooks grab you immediately. "Ex-Helium" celebrates its Ninetiesism with a wordless melody and swishing groove that simmers until the chorus explodes. While "G-Rex" unlocks a soaring Guided By Voices-style melody filtered through its Power Pop changes. We were so lucky to have him - unleashing this means that he will soon belong to the world at large.
BEEN STELLAR - Scream from New York, NY [LP/CD](Dirty Hit) • We wish to declare that from here on out, the importance of new Shoegaze records is that they are not to be immediately consumed/judged/filed to make room for the next one. There is a LOT of music out there. The estimate for 2023 was that there were more new songs released during the year than there were minutes to listen to them - ONCE. We have been following this promising New York group for the better part of a year. Their Pumpkin EP is four stellar singles. The evocative combination of "Pumpkin" and "Sweet" added to the Smashing Pumpkins-ready "All In One" and "Passing Judgement." So, when that covered almost half the debut record - it was easy to buzz through the new tracks. Except, that it should not be. Been Stellar, unlike many other Shoegaze types, has the real potential to shake up those staid Alternative charts. First, their music rifles from hyper-melodic and muscular (the pummeling "Can't Look Away") to quiet and meditative ("Takedown.") However, along the way in their development, Been Stellar managed to digest enough typical Shoegaze/Nineties Rock traits (that hollow guitar sound) to make familiarity as the welcome mat to something new. "Takedown" should be the big in-concert deep cut. Yet, Been Stellar knows that success is truly derived from their ability to maintain and develop songs in levels. "All In One" is designed to be an air-guitar anthem right down to its huge ending. "Takedown" needs all the available oxygen around you to breathe. However, the best part is unlike other Shoegaze epics, it does not announce itself as "the big moment." It slips in the side door and starts by singing to you in the dark. The chords twinkle enough to give it light, but they present a darker Shoegaze vision - and once you squint your eyes to make it out - there is no turning back.
DEHD - Poetry [LP/CD](Fat Possum/The Orchard) • It is criminal that this Chicago trio has not been honored with hit after hit. While the thrilling release of "Mood Ring" with its heavy opening/Motown-like snap makes you wanna "sha-la-la" along has been slowly crawling up the AAA charts, "Poetry" is packed with radio-friendly lovelorn Pop. Having developed the charm of their voices Jason Balla and Emily Kempf are at peak capacity for controlling tension ("Magician") and developing melodic ideas into songs ("Dist B,") so much that you may never notice the Velvet Underground-like simplicity of what they do. Dehd weaves a tangled web lyrically. "Hard To Love" is truly poetry, but as they trade off it becomes a challenge to tell if they really want someone who is as the title advertises or maybe just the comfort of someone from the past. "Dog Days" is part Biker anthem/part Dada-esque teenage dream. It is the first Dehd track that truly rumbles, but also reduces its lyrics down to images ("Switchblade, clutch purse, motorbike, miniskirt") and exuberant calls to freedom ("Everyone I know is breaking hearts tonight!") Behind the pounding drums of Eric McGrady, "Poetry" is Dehd at their most alive - and a record that can light up these summer nights.
JON MCKIEL - Hex [LP/CD](You've Changed/ Redeye) • Using a beat-up old reel-to-reel, McKiel conjures up ghosts of the past with his simple guitar songs. McKiel is using the medium of tape to envelope his otherworldly sounds in their own analog space. With his multi-layered vocals, "Hex" works best when it approaches a dreamlike quality. "String" and "The Fix" are certainly song-like in structure, but his execution to adorn vocals in drapes of chorus or fluster synth sounds to the point of distortion makes his sweet voice sound like interplanetary transmissions. On the booming title cut, McKiel develops a groove that does not let go until it casts a spell on you. While the incandescent "Everlee" snaps to life as a lost mid-period Byrds track tempered with longing and sadness. In the end, McKiel's creation is meant to feel effervescent and light allowing him to wow you with a wide palette of emotion.
REISSUES THIS WEEK
GRATEFUL DEAD - Dead Set/Reckoning [2LP](Grateful Dead/Rhino) • Reaching the Eighties and embracing the first personnel changes in years, The Dead split their live performances into electric shows ("Dead Set") and acoustic shows ("Reckoning") for their fifteenth anniversary. "Dead Set" is important because it represents the first step toward the familiar/deep cut/cover mixtures that were going to make them a household name in the Yuppie Eighties. While "Reckoning" may not be the best representation of their Folk/Bluegrass roots, it does want to send you back to the halcyon days of twin classics "American Beauty" and "Workingman's Dead."
EAGLES - Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 [SEA BLUE LP](Rhino) • Having dismissed Glyn Johns and several talented players for a more Rock-based electric lineup, The Eagles finally reached the success they always thought they deserved. By they dissolved (for the first time) in 1982, they left behind enough singles to make a thrilling counterpart of their best-selling (and more Country) Volume 1. The inclusion of "The Sad Cafe" and "After The Thrill Is Gone" may even be enough to send you back to their respective albums for better deep cuts. Thankfully, includes the amazing live version of "Seven Bridges Road."
YES - The Yes Album [SEA BLUE LP](Atlantic/Rhino) • Prog rockers Yes took a couple of albums to "grow up in public." (Additional listening to this year's RSD "Yale Bowl" release points to how they were adapting to be a band regardless of who played.) However, the addition of Steve Howe to this 1971 slice of brilliance proved to be how the group could free themselves from always sounding too busy. Six classics elegantly remixed by the masterful Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree.)
GENESIS - ...and then there were three [SEA BLUE LP](Rhino) • Answering the question "How do you keep your fans and earn new ones," Collins, Banks, and Rutherford developed a new sense of melody ("Follow Me Follow You" - their first chart Pop single) and still stayed adventurous musically - yet concise.
JOHN COLTRANE - Ole [HI FI LP](Rhino) • Before his historic leap to Impulse Records and its promise of complete freedom, Coltrane's 1961 recording with the potential "Africa/Brass" players Eric Dolphy, McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones, Art Davis, Reggie Workman, and Freddie Hubbard live on as more than a trial run for the emotional "Africa/Brass." Some say it is too rooted in Miles Davis' "Sketches of Spain" experimentation (the lengthy title cut,) however it may live on as the first indication of Coltrane gathering his excitement from playing off of such talented players ("Aisha.")
GEORGE BENSON - Now Playing [SEA BLUE LP](Rhino) • George Benson and his tacet vocal/guitar playing was always exciting. However, when Jazz crossed over into R&B/Soul in the Seventies, Benson was its biggest star. Collected on this LP are all of his hits including the Grammy-winning instrumental "Breezin,'" a live version of "On Broadway," and even Eighties sizzlers like "Give Me The Night" and "Love x Love."
TERENCE TRENT D'ARBY - The World According To. [GREEN VINYL](Music on Vinyl NED) • In the late Eighties, when being as audacious as possible was enough to get a real talent notice and airplay, British import Terence Trent D'Arby crossed over with a new blend of classic Soul to American shores. The still classic "Wishing Well," and the slow-boiling ballad "Sign Your Name" may be wrapped in digital Eighties production, but there is no denying how well D'Arby plays today.
Various - TOMORROW'S FASHIONS: LIBRARY ELECTRONICA 1972-1987 [2LP/CD](Ace UK) • Way off the beaten path, Library Music continues to make inroads thanks to sampling (some of those here were borrowed by Kendrick Lamar and MF Doom) and creative playlisting. "Tomorrow's Fashions" accurately throws back to their functionality. Sweeping synths, funky bass, and a dynamite groove that ends too soon. Designed for advertising, "Tomorrow's Fashions" still sounds way ahead of its time.
Various - AS I ROVED OUT: CELTIC ROCK 1968-1978 [3CD](Strawberry/Cherry Red) • Now, before you go saying, "July 4th weekend? Celtic Rock?" Hear us out. Without some of these melodies and conceits, there might not be anything for those early Appalachians to sing about. As Ireland discovered Rock in the mid-sixties, it still needed to contain that familiar dose of Celtic fare. So Thin Lizzy, Taste (with Rory Gallagher,) Al Stewart, and Fairport Convention are here with well-chosen Celtic forms that you can hear echoed in our music. As if that was not enough, "As I Roved Out" even branches out to allow you to hear how Celtic Rock turned up in Wales (Huw Jones,) Scotland (Bert Jansch, John Martyn), and France. These strands of music filter through everything we hear today, especially American Bluegrass and traditional Country music.
