BoDeans
Still

(He & He)

First Appeared in The Music Box, March 2008, Volume 15, #3

Written by John Metzger

Tue March 4, 2008, 06:30 AM CST

On paper, the selection of T Bone Burnett to produce the BoDeans’ latest album Still is as perfect as can be. The band long has twisted its bubbly, Beatle-esque melodies into heartland-driven folk-rock, and as Burnett’s terrific, two-disc retrospective Twenty Twenty: The Essential T Bone Burnett made clear, he has more than a passing fondness for the Liverpudlian quartet. By the same token, the BoDeans’ output typically has sounded too crisp, clean, and polished for its own good. Therefore, Burnett’s penchant for applying gritty, ambient textures ought to be the perfect antidote for what has been ailing the group. After all, Burnett succeeded last year in striking the perfect balance between the angelic persona of Alison Krauss and the ominous presence of Robert Plant on the superlative Raising Sand.

For what it’s worth, Still begins in a thrilling fashion, bearing the kind of aurally engaging fruit that a collaboration between Burnett and the BoDeans ought to yield. The music that surrounds Pretty Ghost, the album’s opening cut, is well suited for the song’s lyrics. Framed by writhing electric guitars and rolling percussion, the BoDeans’ vocals drift ethereally through the fray. It’s precisely the sort of atmospheric arrangement that Burnett increasingly has excelled at creating, and in scuffing up the BoDeans’ sound, he undeniably has helped the band to carry its material onto an exciting, new plane of existence.

Unfortunately, although the rest of Still is quite solid, it also doesn’t fare nearly as well as it should. The BoDeans’ harmonies are, of course, as sublime as they always have been, and the group’s knack at crafting immediately engaging melodies remains intact. In addition, there is an infusion of energy permeating the disc — from the lead guitar lines that wind through Round Here Somewhere to the driving, garage-blues propulsion of Lucille — that saves the set from falling prey to the same tedious mediocrity that dogged Resolution.

Nevertheless, for all of the moments when it appears as if the ideas proffered by Burnett and the BoDeans will coalesce, the two parties never quite get to or remain on the same page. Instead, they glide past each other, just missing the mark. In the end, Still is an enjoyable affair, one that at least demonstrates that, after nearly 25 years together, the BoDeans’ interest in pushing its music forward hasn’t waned. Considering the amount of talent that was in the recording studio, however, the album also can’t help but to feel like a disappointment.

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Ratings

1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!

Copyright © 2008 The Music Box