Rock Bottom Rhapsody

by Pokey LaFarge

Overview

When you've spent most of your career sounding as if you were living in the 21st century by fate rather than by choice, figuring out how to sound more up to date is going to be a complicated thing, and it seems that Pokey LaFarge has been giving that scenario a lot of thought. Since releasing Manic Revelations in 2017, Pokey LaFarge left St. Louis for Los Angeles, experienced what he calls a "fall from grace," had a spiritual reawakening, and recorded 2020's Rock Bottom Rhapsody, in which he clearly wants to change up his usual creative persona as a slightly twangy jazzbo here on a pass from 1923. The rootsy jazz-inflected sound that dominated LaFarge's early albums is wired deep enough into his DNA that he can't entirely shake it in as far as his melodies are concerned, but in terms of his production and arrangements, he's clearly willing to fight that. The distorted vocals and drums on "Fuck Me Up" give the performance a suitably messed-up lo-fi undertow, "Storm a Comin'" is steeped in '60s-style soul, a late-'50s/early-'60s pop vibe informs "End of My Rope," and if the arrangement on "Bluebird" is seriously retro, the circular snap of the drums and the layered vocals on the chorus are a giveaway that someone had been spending some time listening to dance music in a club. At times, Rock Bottom Rhapsody sounds as if LaFarge is trying very hard to break new creative ground for himself, though the results aren't a particularly radical shift from what his fans have come to expect. But if he sounds a bit uncertain about how to present himself, LaFarge's confidence as a songwriter is strong and justifiably so. "Lucky Sometimes" is a love song just sweet enough to work without getting gooey, the folky shuffle of "Just the Same" is well matched to a confessional lyric, and "End of My Rope" nods to his personal troubles without wallowing in self-pity or demanding we feel sorry for him. And if LaFarge's reedy voice still doesn't sound up to date, he's developed enough vocal authority to not sound totally lost outside of a faux-nostalgic context. Pokey LaFarge is still working out the math on how to exist in more than one decade at a time, but Rock Bottom Rhapsody has more than enough good things in it that he's probably going to be just fine wherever he finally settles down. ~ Mark Deming

Product Details

Release Date:	04/10/2020
Label:	New West
UPC:	0607396537013
Rank:	56574

Tracks

1. Rock Bottom Rhapsody
2. End of My Rope
3. Fuck Me Up
4. Bluebird
5. Rock Bottom Reprise
6. Lucky Sometimes
7. Carry On
8. Just the Same
9. Fallen Angel
10. Storm-A-Comin'
11. Ain't Comin' Home
12. Lost in the Crowd
13. Rock Bottom Finale

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Pokey LaFarge   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Lucia Micarelli   Violin
Scott Ligon   Organ,Piano,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric),Vocals (Background)
Joel Paterson   Guitar
Deron Johnson   Piano
Andrew Duckles   Viola
Paul Cartwright   Violin
Jonathan Flaugher   Bass (Upright)
Chris Seefried   Organ,Piano,Guitar,Mellotron
Vanessa Freebairn-Smith   Cello
Jimmy Sutton   Double Bass,Bass (Electric)
Alex Hall   Drums,Keyboards,Percussion,Vibraphone,Vocals (Background)
Casey McDonough   Vocals (Background)
Marley Munroe   Vocals (Background)
Marieme Diop   Vocals (Background)

Technical Credits

Fred Kevorkian   Mastering
Paul Cartwright   String Arrangements
Chris Seefried   Composer,Producer
Pokey LaFarge   Composer
Seth Atkins   Overdub Engineer
Alex Hall   Engineer
Eliot Lee Hazel   Art Direction
Larry Niehues   Photography
Neil Wilkinson   Composer