Joseph Arthur and the Lonely Astronauts

Temporary People

November 11, 2008

*** 1/2 / ****

By Mr. Marlowe

Released 2008

Joseph Arthur’s alternative country-rock musical aesthetic gets a shot at redemption on his latest album, Temporary People. Sticking with his full band, The Lonely Astronauts Arthur abandons the bizarre experimentation of his most recent works in favor of providing his acoustic numbers a fuller, electric sound. It’s a return to roots with a twist that finds The Man channeling Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and a host of others as he flips on the electricity and lived-in bar band bravado and continues moving forward with his brilliantly prolific career.

The story of Jesus (yes, that Jesus!) gets a bizarre Subterranean Homesick Blues Bob Dylan makeover in the rollicking Dead Savior. If only I could completely make out the words I might be able to tell you that Arthur pits his protagonist in the Jesus role trapesing through the modern world. Or something like that. “You hang with priests, you hang with thugs, on mountain tops, and under rugs.” Odd, indeed yet viciously enticing, a hallmark of Arthur’s ever-intriguing lyrics.

Neil Young guitar grunge emerges in the carefully building and emotionally haunting Sunrise Dolls, the best song on the album. The slow build leads to a bombastic chorus before a stunning climax that reminds of a Keep on Rockin’ guitar solo blows us away. The tune gets better every listen and by the time it ends it literally leaves us wanting more.

At other times on Temporary People Arthur and his backing band gel into a sound that eerily reminds of what The Black Crowes have been morphing into over their lengthy career: a rugged, experienced, gospel influenced Southern rock band with pop. Ignore for a moment Arthur’s drunken mumble delivery and a pattern emerges: the music and feel on Heart’s a Soldier, Faith, and Winter Blades could just as easily have come from The Crowes’ latest, Warpaint. With its female backing vocals, oooo’s and ahhhhhh’s, and Jimi Hendrix style fuzzy guitar burn these tunes are more Georgia peach than Brooklyn boho, Arthur’s current residence and most recent persona, any day of the week.

Droning organs accompany heart-felt crooning on Turn You On, a bluesy trip down memory lane and my second favorite cut on the album. Joseph Arthur is excellent when his voice channels the lonesome-hearted on their search for something more and this song travels that path beautifully. “You say I don’t turn you on… until it’s time for me to go.” Brilliant!

The negative in Temporary People is that it sometimes feels bland. We know the country-rock sound has been recycled 1000s of times over the past fifty years, it’s just that Arthur, himself, hasn’t yet had the chance to fully go that direction. With this effort Arthur proves it’s a good sound for him and he can do it well. However, it’s definitely not his best and throughout we can almost feel Arthur struggling to bust out something crazy. Unfortunately, he sticks to his guns never quite letting his eccentricities fully take over.

Devoid of obviously memorable hooks, outrageous experimentation, and other skewed yet fascinating word play and storytelling Temporary People is a good record but too basic compared to what Arthur has previously shown us. It’s a pleasing album with numerous exciting moments, but it doesn’t blur the boundaries or break the rules with the same brilliance and reckless abandon Nuclear Daydream, Our Shadows Will Remain, or the best moments of Let’s Just Be did so frequently. Instead, Temporary People is a good, safe Joseph Arthur album, an enjoyable listen and another unpredictable step in the Joseph Arthur evolution.

Best Songs: Sunrise Dolls, Turn You On, Faith, Dead Savior