The underrated instrumental rock outfit Pullman was essentially a supergroup consisting of former Rex front man Curtis Harvey, Tortoise alumni Bundy K. Brown and Doug McCombs, and Codeine drummer Chris Brokaw. On paper, they were two parts post-rock and two parts slowcore, but in practice, neither style manifested itself; the quartet recorded two critically lauded albums of acoustic folk-rock that drew heavily from the catalogs of John Fahey and Leo Kottke, and called it a day. Though short-lived, the band’s combination of organic textures and light jazz motifs seemed to facilitate Harvey’s transformation from the emotional vocalist he was in Rex to the new folk troubadour he proves to be on Box of Stones.
Often labeled a Fahey disciple, Harvey brings more to the table than the fluid, golden passages both he and his mentor are known for. Where Fahey was reserved and esoteric, Harvey’s guitar playing is open and accessible. As a vocalist, Harvey has drawn comparisons to both Neil Young and Will Oldham, but on Box of Stones, he reaches beyond Young’s flat delivery for a more plain-spoken, confessional style similar to that of Conor Oberst. Lyrically, Harvey finds inspiration among the ghosts of Woody Guthrie’s depression-era America and in Jeff Tweedy’s more modern pastiches. Together, he crosses all of these influences to ultimately find the best aspects of each: Fahey’s warm tones, Oberst’s cleverness, and Young’s sense of melody. What arises is a poignant voice that delivers some of the most fitting observations this generation has yet heard.
On “Borrowed Time,” Harvey muses over a failed relationship, and in doing so, deftly incorporates the greater concerns of these uncertain, recession-plagued times. He pairs the loss of love with the loss of material things and chooses to concentrate on what remains. For him, that means a guitar, chords, and a song: “All I have is right here/ As long as I’ve got two hands, a mouth, strings, and a melody.” In a few lines, Harvey captures the zeitgeist of the current generation: experienced at loss, both romantic and pragmatic, but resilient and wiser. He elucidates the accompanying sense of remorse best when he looks back himself: “I wish that I could turn back the hands of time/ Right before the moment when you ceased to be mine/ I might have been dumb, but I sure wasn’t blind.”
Yes, Harvey is writing about love affairs gone wrong, but his allusions echo the feelings of so many who find themselves jobless, homeless, and longing for the brighter days of 2006 and 2007. It resonates because Harvey’s characters admit their losses openly; they accept them without trying to disguise things, then they face the situation and move on. It’s an entirely different pattern from the staid boy-meets-girl/boy-loses-girl/boy-writes-sad-song model. Harvey’s protagonist meets the girl, and, of course, loses the girl, but in writing the ensuing song, relates it all in a fashion that makes sense of both romance and society.
“Seen” says it even better when it paints the ‘other man’ as the Devil: “Did that devil come and whisper things?/ Did he talk you into leaving?” Here, Harvey’s lead has once again lost the girl, but this time, another man lured her away. Lyrically, he focuses on the severed relationship, but the parallel is too obvious. He’s written a thinly veiled description of a good-natured society misled by entrepreneurial ‘devils’ whispering in our ears. The comparison to the present day is perfected when Harvey confesses, “I would help you if I could/ But that was hard enough when things were good.”
Box of Stones isn’t perfect, however. At times, Harvey leans a little too heavily on Fahey’s shoulder for influence, and there are moments when his lyrical references are simply too obvious. “Bag of Seeds” is a modern parable that bypasses subtlety and preaches its way to awkwardness, and “Joking” ends with the all too obvious statement, “Pretty soon we’re going to need a destination.”. It’s true enough, but given the context, hardly a laughing matter. Knowing that Harvey recorded Box of Stones alone in his basement, it seems that these shortcomings could have been avoided by working with a partner. Still, for his first new work in eight years, this is extremely promising.
1. Oldertoo
2. Borrowed Time
3. Seen
4. Words
5. Bag of Seeds
6. Nod
7. Across the Sea
8. Medicine
9. March Into the Sun
10. Joking
11. On Top
12. Bad Patch
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