Strangely, despite extreme critical acclaim and occasional heavy marketing, Marshall Crenshaw is not a superstar, although everyone knows a handful of his recordings or compositions (like the Gin Blossoms hit, "Til I Hear It From You"). Well, one of the best things about Marshall Crenshaw's new Jaggedland is, yes, it's another Marshall Crenshaw album, yay. But also, it's a wonderfully solid offering that is another opportunity to make true believers out of casual listeners whose memories and music collections merely include his '82 Warners self-titled debut (with the classics "Someday, Someway," "Cynical Girl," and "There She Goes Again"), or even Miracle Of Science (that featured "What Do You Dream Of," a cover of Dobie Gray's "The 'In' Crowd," and the brilliant anthem and alternate universe Top Ten smash, "Starless Summer Sky").
Jaggedland contains some of Marshall's most adventurous pop recordings, and it starts out with "Right On Time" that employs a sly, return ending to recap the whole lot of fun that proceeds it. "I really do love that," Marshall says about the faux ending, adding, "though we didn't set out to do that at all. The way we cut the tracks, for most of the songs, is we just got in the room and played. We sat in a circle and just kept playing until we thought we had it right. There was one particular take that got into that insanity at the end...I just love how that broke down and degenerated into that chaos. I like to catch those wild moments when they happen." And there was a false start in Jaggedland's recording process. "Four of the tunes are kind of separate from the bulk of the record. I started out with producer Stewart Lerman, and we did some tunes together. He's a really sweet guy, a great friend. We eventually realized we weren't on the same page with all the stuff that needed to come across, but two of the tracks--"Someone Told Me" and "Sunday Blues"--captured something that I thought was worth holding on to. We came up with something pretty nice on those songs. And then 'Jaggedland' and 'Gasoline Baby' are just me on my own, that's me (recording) out in the barn."
Changing coasts, Marshall then joined forces with producer Jerry Boys and jump-started the recording process for the remaining tracks: "We did the other eight in L.A., and we had a core group--myself, Greg Leisz, Jim Keltner, Sebastian Steinberg, and Emil Richards...just the five of us sitting in a circle. I even tried to keep the conversation to a minimum while we were making the music, it was just a matter of having everybody kind of learning the song and then playing it. I had no idea how some of the stuff was going to develop. It was just people doin' it in real time. The ensemble material took just three days to record, and another six or seven went to vocals and guitar solos." With the exception of a couple songs, the whole album was recorded with a stand-up bass that helps give Jaggedland that other-era authority. "I really prefer a stand-up bass in a rock 'n' roll band."
And the story behind the album's unique title? "There are lots of references in the songs to the elements and to nature," Marshall explains. "The word 'Jaggedland' seemed to be a good title. It just sort of described the atmosphere of the record, and it's kind of another word for my brain, my consciousness, a 'jagged land.'" In addition to its melodic and expertly sung pop-rock songs, the album also features a couple instrumentals, including the title track, that are all feel and effects. "There was a period when I was trying to stockpile instrumental music. It actually started as an up tempo piece, and I just got inspired to slow it down." Revealing his creative process, Marshall continues, "I always start with a piece of music, that's how I always write a song. At the beginning, I have it come from an emotional place. The main thing with me is that I just start playing and singing and stay out of its way when it first starts happening. Afterward, there's some crafting involved. If it's going to be a song with words, for some reason, I have this fear and I have to wait 'til it passes before I can get started on them. Sometimes that takes months. I come at it as a musician and a composer in the first place, and then go from there."
Although this release is one of Marshall's most consistently satisfying albums and he is very satisfied with the project as a whole, there are a couple tracks whose musical merits and sonic aspects push them a hair more to the forefront. "I love 'Someone Told Me,' that's a great track, I just like the way it's played. I was trying to come up with a solid rock 'n' roll song, and it sort of took on a very interesting shape, something very singular. The bass on it is really wild, it's almost got this Charlie Haden thing, where Sebastian is sort of strumming it, playing all this kind of syncopated, oddball stuff." He added, "The track on 'Just Snap Your Fingers' is really nice. The shakers kind of remind me of a Bo Diddley or Chess Records kind of track, with the tremlo guitars."
Having grown up in the Detroit area, Marshall was inspired to write "Gasoline Baby" while driving, as he contemplated the stupidity of having to rely on the vehicle so heavily. "It's just an absurd song about the absurdity of the whole thing!" he comments. "When I was sixteen or seventeen, I realized that I couldn't really function in the world or live any kind of life unless I got a car, and I hated that. It just seemed so unfair. When I was young and never had a nickel or a dime, to try to keep a car on the road just seemed like such a drag. When my wife and I moved to New York City, we were so overjoyed that we didn't have to have a car, and we let our licenses lapse. With the car that I have now, I think when it's time to buy another, I want to be in a position where I don't really have to if I don't want to."
On "Passing Through," Marshall recalls, "A day after I wrote that song, I played it for someone and it immediately had a strong reaction. I had a really important assist on that one from Kelly Ryan who came up with four or five of the most beautiful lines in the song. And that was another one where the interpretation was very spontaneous. We were playing it, and all of a sudden Jim gets up from his drum and wanders over to the trunk where he has all his gear and I see him pull out this toy, plastic snare drum. I recognize the drum because when I was a kid, a friend of mine had one just like it--red plastic with gold plastic hardware. The one my friend has read 'The Beatles' Drum,' as I remember. Anyway, Keltner takes his drum out, puts it on the stand, he hits it, and it just goes 'boooom,' like an explosion. I said to him, 'Wow, what's with that drum?' and he goes, 'Oh, I've got nine of these!' So, that's what he plays on that song, a toy, plastic snare drum, but he makes it sound like a million bucks." Of the song's topic, Marshall explains, "I call it a joyful song about mortality. It's one of the topics that emerged, the fact that I'm in the second half of my life and you've got to treasure what's left. I don't have any more time or energy to waste, I just have to be grateful for the chance to do what I do and still be walking the earth, you know?"
Written as an afterthought but evolving into one of the Jaggedland's more emotional songs is its last track, "Live And Learn," on which Marshall gallops along on a borrowed Fender Jazzmaster with Emil's vibraphone and "log" along for the ride. Written with Matt Bair and Dan Bern--Marshall's collaborator on songs featured in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story--its lyrics begin, "Way back when I was young, a minute from yesterday, they said to me, 'Son, be strong, you're gonna be something someday,'" but the song suddenly shifts into something different, an admission of regrets and a resolve to move forward benefiting from lessons learned. "I think it's the most left field one," Marshall reveals. "It reminds me of people sitting around a campfire with this quiet music playing and someone is telling a story. I had no idea it was going to turn out like that. When we were first tracking it, I kept waiting for Jim (Keltner). I felt that at some point, he would just open it up and it would get explosive. But he just kept tapping away and I loved it." That spontaneity applied to the rest of the band as well. "We didn't discuss it all, I just sat down and started playing the song, and they fell in behind me. It was great." Marshall's matter-of-fact vocals and guitar feel plus the band's arrangement give the song an identity beyond its excellent lyrics and sentiment. It offers some common sense and optimism throughout its lyrics, especially in the lines, "It's your turn to live and learn, find your shoes, walk outside, shake the clouds from your head, though the forecast said rain, you've got sunshine instead..." With all its musical excellence, terrific songwriting, group dynamics and "vibe," Jaggedland will be remembered as one of Marshall Crenshaw's most significant releases, especially to the artist. "This album took a lot of wear and tear on my emotions, but in the end, I think it's one of my best ever." And what if its sales aren't triple platinum? "When people ask me why I keep making music after all these years, I have a simple answer: because I have to. For lack of a more colorful term, there is truly something magical to it, and I never take it for granted."
Tracks:
1. Right On Time
2. Passing Through
3. Someone Told Me
4. Stormy River
5. Gasoline Baby
6. Never Coming Down
7. Long Hard Road
8. Jaggedland
9. Sunday Blues
10. Just Snap Your Fingers
11. Eventually
12. Live And Learn
by Mike Ragogna