Even In Blackouts

You know, growing up listening to the music of one specific artist, as I have been doing for nearly two decades now with the musical musings of John Pierson of Even in Blackouts, is a funny thing. You have so many memories soundtracked by the artist, so many emotions locked into their work, that it’s deeply disappointing when they bring out a record that you don’t like.

Which was, initially, the case with this album for me. ‘Fall of The House of Even’ (nod to Edgar Allan Poe for the title) was part-financed by fans of the band (a practice which I had never heard of before musically but which is apparently quite common in the theatrical world, of which Pierson is also part) and I think knowing this made me look at it somewhat askance at first, thinking well, if they can’t afford to record, why record? When I bought the CD I didn’t like the artwork, finding the words incredibly difficult to read (written as they are in a practically illegible font and in spidery handwriting) and with a few misspellings (I’m just pedantic about these things, I suppose) and a somewhat ugly cover (an illustration of a skeleton which I still don’t really like), done by Pierson himself. This initially made me listen to the album briefly and then put it aside dismissing it, reckoning it was a record that probably should not have been recorded.

But then…something happened. One of Pierson’s oblique, occasionally impenetrable lyrics would stick in my head during the day, not necessarily in any logical context, or the music from one of the songs would drift through my brain, and I went back to the album and listened to it anew, giving in to the sheer strangeness it proudly exhibits upon occasion. The fact that some of the album is quite country-oriented, which is not a musical genre I listen to at all, hadn’t helped initially, but as I listened more to the ‘Fall’ as a whole I began to accept it more as the musical experiment that it clearly is, mixing musical genres (pop-punk, country, straight pop, blues, a wee touch of ska) into an interesting melting pot to come up with an artwork which, while not perfect (what artwork ever is, though?), is certainly a damn fine piece of work and well worth a listen.

‘Fall’ is a concept album. Each song on it represents a different room in a house, with each room named after a person who donated money to the recording. Each room is a wreck, so I would assume that this is the ‘House of Even (in Blackouts)’ that has fallen. Which is somewhat odd, because it would seem to suggest the end of the band, but I may have grasped the concept all wrong, I dunno. One thing that I have found is that Pierson, whilst liking making albums with unifying threads and concepts (like their last release, 2004’s ‘zeitgeist’s echo’), he sometimes does not make these concepts clear or focused enough, and his sometimes difficult-to-decipher wordwork (especially if you can’t read the lyrics on the insert!) hardly helps upon occasion.

What is certain about this album is, that like ‘echo,’ this it is a somewhat morbid, haunted album full of songs about ghosts, people scared to love because of the pain of feeling, runaway youths, damaged individuals unable to escape their darkest dazed days, and fall-down drunks; a grim monochrome-with-occasional-rainbow-flashes sonic panoply of schizoid fears and emotional tears. Nowhere is this approach more exemplified by ‘Skeleton Dance (Philanges De La Muerte)’ (don’t ask me why it has an Italian subtitle except for the fact Pierson has Italian friends!), whose odd, phantasm-vaporous, spooky start recalls ‘Danse Macabre’ by French composer Camille Saint-Saens to me, calcium mined for bonebeat rhythm, with singer Lizzy Eldredge wailing like a young muscular banshee at the funeral of a friend of death. And this is only one of a number of truly excellent songs on this album, endlessly listenable in ever-more-(in)comprehensible sonic loops, a bittersweet sardonic grin spreading like butter over the skin over the skull of a gratefully decaying corpse.

As has long been noted, Eldredge is an excellent, accomplished singer, voice a work of pop art, choir-trained and vocal birdswoop and soar and smile, and it can, upon occasion, make me nearly cry; there is a version of the old song ‘I Can See Clearly Now’ where she hits a note that makes my hackles rise. She has never sounded better or stronger than on this album, and ‘Fall’ would have been worth producing if only as a vibrant vocals vehicle. But it’s far more than that, and all the musicianship is tight on this recording, with cameos from a banjo and a piano and an organ putting in soundwavewash cameos to complement the usual Blackouts soundscape. Bice in particular is an excellent drumroll skinspounder and a great find indeed.

Pierson’s guitar (he plays other instruments too on this release, including a xylophone, seemingly finding it easy to adapt to playing other instruments) on ‘Fall’ is, as usual, great. I have always found - LauraHird.com

EVEN IN BLACKOUTS - Myths and Imaginary Magicians (Band Site) If you’ve been reading Askew Reviews for the past few years, then you certainly know what it means when I write that a cd has found a home on the top shelf of my cd rack. If you do not know what that means; only what I consider to be the best cds (see The Medveds, Flogging Molly, Darkbuster) make it to the top shelf of my cd rack. These venerable cds make it there because they are so good and deserve to be hoisted over my other cds making them easily accessible for quick listening. When in need for a music fix, there’s no need to fumble around looking for that great disc. As I am sure you’re well aware of where this review is going, I still must write, declare, and announce that the real estate on my top shelf has just diminished with the inclusion of Even in Blackouts. Ok, the cd case has found residence on the top shelf, the cd itself has been in my car since it’s been in my possession because that’s where I listen to 95% of my music and spend approx 80 miles a day. Even in Blackouts, the newest musical project by Screeching Weasel co-founder/guitarist John Jughead, is best described as acoustic pop punk with female lead vocals. However, the label “acoustic” is a weak term since the music sounds deeper than that with the three guitars perfectly arranged with the bass and drums. Topping off the magnificently played music are Liz Eldredge’s intriguing vocals. Liz’s sound is a complex combination of vulnerable sounding sweetness backed with a strong sense of confidence and an “I could be the best or worst thing that ever happened to you” attitude. Since I love every song on this cd and this review is already getting a bit too wordy, I’m only going to hit on my absolute favorites here; Although the lyrics in “If Leaving Were To Be So Easy” are the same few sentences repeated over and over, the sound of Liz’s voice and her need for space is so profoundly heard, it pulled me in and made this song a favorite right off the bat. For reasons I can’t explain, other than it musically and lyrically sounds cool, “Summer Comes” is simply a great song. “Missing Manifesto” and “Love Cynical Style” are right up there as well. Amongst the twelve tunes here are a few covers; Screeching Weasel’s “Hey Suburbia” and Operation Ivy’s "Knowledge.” Perfectly arranged music, dead on vocals for such music, and great lyrical content is what makes this cd a great listen. You get the ol’ triple play music fans. You’ve read the review, now buy the cd. You won’t be disappointed. – Denis Sheehan - Askew Reviews

Passion 10 out of Ten

Attention keeping 10 out of Ten

Sit and listen 10 out of Ten

Quality of Songs 10 out of Ten

Played and sung with a voracity and exuberance allied with some admirable intense that only ex punkers could bring, this is a sound that I find unique in the world of rock music, rhythmic acoustic guitars trashing away with acoustic bass and hard working drum unit, and all played with an outstanding spirit. Once you start listening you will not be able to contain yourself as this album picks you up and carries you along on such uplifting Joy, sounds sick don't it? listen to these great rock/pop songs and tell me I'm wrong! - 3 Rock Radio

BY JIM DeROGATIS POP MUSIC CRITIC


There's a moment in every show by Even In Blackouts when the group unplugs its instruments, pushes the vocal mikes aside and performs completely acoustically, briefly turning the harshest rock-club environment into a quiet living-room hootenanny.

It would be an audacious move for any rock band, but it's even bolder considering that, regardless of its choice of instruments, the Chicago quintet is otherwise a driving and energetic pop-punk band, and it's led by one of the giants in the genre, a man who's inspired Green Day, Blink-182, Sum 41 and dozens of other groups.

John "Jughead" Pierson spent 15 years as the guitarist, co-founder and primary motivating force in the hugely influential Screeching Weasel. Though it went on hiatus and returned several times during its turbulent history, the group finally came to an end about two years ago. Pierson has always thrived on the energy of live performance--his other outlet in addition to punk rock is as an actor and writer with the celebrated Neo-Futurist theater troupe--and he eventually grew frustrated with bandleader Ben Weasel's reluctance to play live.


"Ben and I always said that it wouldn't be the band without either of us," Pierson says. "That was my thing, touring, and after all of that went away, I became less and less important to the band. The thing that's different about us breaking up this time is that it's the first time that I decided to call it quits."

After spending so much of his time as pop-punk's Keith Richards to Weasel's Mick Jagger, Pierson decided it was time to form a band of his own. But he came up with a unique twist on the formula. "After 15 years of being in Screeching Weasel, I wanted to do something that was a little bit different, but I didn't want to go against my influences," he says. He was vacationing in Italy, sitting in Palermo and strumming on an acoustic guitar, when inspiration struck in the form of a song called "Missing Manifesto."

The tune questions the need for a generation to have artists they believe in, and the difficulty for those artists to find a reason to create. "It's this urgency to see thing differently/Giving one another distance for out vanity," it goes. "We are in search of a missing manifesto/We are in search of a myth."

"I never really wrote my own lyrics before--I wrote for the theater, but I never really wrote songs--and then something just came out," Pierson says. "And since I wrote it on the acoustic, I really wanted to do an acoustic project, and I just came up with the idea of getting punk rockers together to do some acoustic songs. I specifically auditioned people who were punk rockers instead of acoustic players, and I wanted a bunch of young people who would be anxious and willing to tour."

Pierson initially thought the band would only perform live--the name came from the acoustic nature of the project, since it would be able to play "even in blackouts," sans electricity--but as the sound came together, he felt compelled to capture it on tape. After an initial limited run on his own label, the group's stellar debut, "Myths & Imaginary Magicians," has now been reissued with wider distribution on Lookout! Records.

In shaping the sound, Pierson was largely influenced by New Jersey's legendary Feelies, a band that often employed sparkling acoustic guitars at frantic, revved-up rhythms. He wanted a sound that was beautiful yet compelling, fragile yet powerful.

"We sat around for six months learning how to do rhythm without drums," he says. "I wanted to focus on getting the same energy out of an acoustic guitar that you can get out of an electric. Once we got that going, we found our singer, Lizzie Eldredge, and then we went in the studio."

A strong and self-assured singer with a pretty but gripping voice, Pierson found Eldredge through a fortuitous coincide. "We were at [producer] Mass' [Giorgini] studio in Lafayette, Ind., and she was just hanging out, visiting some friends that were recording. She wasn't there to do vocals, she was just singing along outside the door, and Mass heard her and knew that I was looking for a female vocalist. He just grabbed her and said, 'I have somebody that would like to meet you!'

"Lizzie had never been in a band before and she fit perfectly," Pierson continues. "I had all these auditions lined up for other singers, and she came in and sang a Screeching Weasel song she'd never heard before, and I was like, 'OK, auditions are over! We've got our singer.' That happened with all the musicians; the first three people I auditioned I wound up putting in the band."

It didn't take Pierson long to find his voice as a songwriter. As a playwright, he honed the ability to couch poignant truths in sarcastic and sometimes absurd humor. (His work is collected in a strong anthology, The Incomplete Philosophy of Hope and Nonthings.) But he always tried to keep his theater identity, Ian Pierce, separate fro - Chicago Sun Times

EVEN IN BLACKOUTS

CD Review - Tastes Like Chicken

:: 09/06/04

Sometimes, in punk rock, a single band will do something completely different from the norm. Even in Blackouts is one of them. What is different about them is that the songs are done almost completely acoustic, and wind up being extremely well done in the process. It is not that this hasn't been done before in small doses by other bands. (Get Green Day out of your head.) It just hasn't been done this well.

Zeitgeist's Echo has all the speed and energy of any punk rock band, but with the folkiness and pretty melodies common in acoustic arrangements. The quintet's lead female vocals are sweetly well done and compliment the thrashing but rhythmic acoustics perfectly. Even in Blackouts can be enjoyed by almost anyone, no matter what brand of music is preferred. - Tastes Like Chicken