Blunt Objects – No One’s Coming

Blunt Objects – No One’s Coming – Album Review

Has it really been since July that I last reviewed the music of Bill Owens in Blunt Objects?  That seems crazy to me…it still feels like it was just yesterday.  I mean…I know I was talking about him yesterday in reviewing a record by Big Bus Dream and suggesting that the two should collaborate sometime in the future…but I guess it actually has been a minute or two since I last reviewed the guy’s music on our site.  Which is even stranger considering this will be the twelfth time I’ve actually written about his tunes – this year!  All of these remarkable albums…Shady Shadows, Sharper Than Some, Call It Sex, Pointy Rounds, and more, all in the same year?  I tell ya…were it not all so interesting, I’d have told just about anyone else to pound sand by this time, given that most artists & bands wouldn’t get twelve reviews done by one place in the span of a single career, but the reality is that Bill’s one of the few out there that continually piques my curiosity and keeps me engaged.  He never seems to repeat himself with the exception of a few songs showing up in a couple spots here & there, and beyond that, the dude’s got an incredibly warm personality to go along with all that creativity he has.  So bring it on I say…I’ll take more music from Bill, but don’t the rest of you go getting any ideas of taking this space of ours over…we’re champions of diversity here in what we listen to, and we always will be.  Just so happens Bill’s a champion of diversity in the music he makes, and he’s endlessly amusing to me.

You see what I’m saying?  Interesting – and instantly.  For the majority of time I’ve been listening to Blunt Objects so far, usually I’ve found one of the most debatable inclusions and/or polarizing tunes at the start of each record, but here on No One’s Coming, it felt like Bill’s off and running in the right direction the moment this album started.  The most you’re gonna find me conceding to ya is that he might have potentially overlooked one major hook, but other than that, I really love what I’m hearing.  The bass playing from his longtime co-conspirator Matt Rendon is completely outstanding, yet not overly dominant…and that’s not easily to do considering how busy the part really is in this first song.  I really dig the words, which is normal when it comes to the music of our esteemed Mr. Owens – he’s a proven swordsman with the pen and I’ve admired his insightful way of writing ever since I started listening.  You’d need to look no further than the cleverness you’ll find in the chorus to understand why – it’s a really smartly written part of this song that gets to the heart of what the “Price Of Things” is really all about.  As for that hook I was talking about…you’ll find that in “trouble rarely travels alone” – I think Bill could have found a few more spots for that singular line to exist within this song at different points, but that’s more of a request than a criticism in my opinion.  I love the way he sings it, the melody is spot on, and it catches the attention for all the right reasons…but you’re saying that I have to push repeat to get MORE of that moment?  Like, with my own finger?  So be it.  The burdens we bear I tell ya.  This is a quality cut though without a doubt…and one of the most accessible beginnings that I’ve heard on a Blunt Objects record to-date…Bill steps outta the gate with his best foot forward on this album.

I really like the transition into the chorus of “Zero” – that’s probably my favorite spot as Bill slides on into singing “nothing from nothing equals nothing” – I dig his vocal melody, and I like the way the music moves with him just as much.  As for the rest…hmm…with all due respect my friend, I’m feeling forced to listen to math…and I’m naturally opposed to that.  When I finally took my last math class in grade eleven, I had 49.9% for the year.  My teacher looked at me and said, “You know, I don’t HAVE to round this up, right?”  I looked back at him and said, “Do you REALLY want to go through this with me again next year?”  At which point he sharpened his pencil right quick and rounded me up to 50% so that we didn’t have to cross paths again.  I consider myself fortunate to be just smart enough to follow along with “Zero” and not get too confused by the math involved…but…I mean…yeah Bill – why are you trying to make me math at all bro?  There are people that will directly tell you that ‘music is math’ – have you ever heard this before?  Preposterous!  Those folks should be tossed directly into the hellfire.  My brain brings all songs into 4/4 timing no matter how complex you intended them to be…sorry not sorry.  Okay – so…clearly I’m kidding around to a degree or two here.  “Zero” is an example of focused songwriting, but it’s also a tremendous example of how a subject will or won’t resonate with the listeners out there too.  For those that get all kinds of rock-hard over numbers and math, you’ll freakin’ LOVE this song I’m sure!  For those of you like me that are basically scared of all-things-math…probably not so much.  Every track we’ll ever write basically takes that same gamble in some way though, there’s no avoiding it really.  I’d take a song like “Zero” over another tune about chicks & cars I guess, but he is cutting it super close.

“Forgotten Gods” is an understated track that seemed very interesting to me.  It’s a standard length at 3:36, but when you look at the amount of words on paper, you’d probably assume it was gonna be a shorter tune than it actually is.  Owens goes through these moments where…hmm…I suppose the only way I can put it, is that he’d certainly know what he’s getting at a lot better than any of us would, you know what I mean?  “Forgotten Gods” is a lot more abstract than most of his songs, which leaves it up to us to attempt to figure out what he’s on about.  If I had to theorize, I’d tell ya that the opening verse seems to imply some kind of reincarnation theme – it seems to think about something I think about all the time.  I feel like I kind of snapped into who I am at eight years old, and that I’ve been the exact same person ever since.  I have distant memories before that time, sure – but the thought process I have now, the way I think & see the world, all just seemed to be there one day and it’s always been with me ever since.  So when Bill sings “I dreamed I woke up in a place I do not know.  An unfamiliar body with people I don’t know.  They claim to be my family.  Who am I to know?” – I feel like I’ve felt that exact thing he’s describing.  I like the music…it’s interesting and anti-typical.  With the music of Blunt Objects, it really is a matter of whether or not people are truly listening to the words more than anything else in my opinion.  “Forgotten Gods” is a stellar example of how a more indirect topic can lead to thought-provoking results that have us really thinking about what’s being said & sung.  I don’t expect that to be the thing everyone reaches to put on their playlist, but there’s definitely a spot on mine for music that makes me think.  Not about MATH Bill…but pretty much every other topic is certainly welcome here.

When he goes literal for a track like “Whispering Madness,” believe me, you get the point.  I really do like the whispering element of “Whispering Madness” in the background vocals…but good gravyboat lighthouse, the way he’s staggered the phrasing and melody of his verses on this tune has practically done me in for good.  This ends up being one of those cuts that kind of defies description…you’d have to experience listening to it to understand what I mean.  Owens is decidedly unpredictable here…to the point where you have to somewhat wonder how a track like this even comes together, you follow me?  I listen to the way “Whispering Madness” works, and I think to myself, ‘surely there must have been an easier way to do this, isn’t there?’  But therein lies the art y’all.  I’d be curious as to how many takes a song like this would need from Bill in order for him to feel like he’s got everything where he wants it to be, or if it’s a one-take type deal…it’s a perplexing little oddity that requires a few spins to get your mind around it.  Once you do, I feel like it’s the kind of song that grows on you fairly quickly.  It might not end up in my favorites by Blunt Objects, but it’s actually quite a neat and unique tune in the catalog overall.

Here’s some math for ya – I was five years old when “Commuting” was first created, back with Bill’s Korg MS20 & DR Rhythm on a ‘Portastudio’ way back when.  I’m proud to report this track still freakin’ jams!  Usually the very thought of bringing back a track from so long ago gives me mixed feelings…I understand the desire to not let something go, but more often than not, the ideas people seem to think can’t be left behind don’t really need to be brought into the present.  In the case of “Commuting,” I’m 100% onboard here – in fact, I’d argue that a track like this one is actually way more relevant for today’s world than it would have been back in 1985.  Good lord…I just did more math – that makes this song nearly forty years old, and it sounds like it could have been made yesterday!  That in itself is impressive.  From what I’m reading here online, “Commuting” was “revived, restored, and updated” this year in Tucson where Bill is based out of…and yeah man…this was a good call.  It’s got that Blunt Objects spirit to it, so it fits right in here…but it’s also got this like…experimental edge to it that would appeal to fans of what Jonny Greenwood creates, or fans of Thom Yorke’s solo tunes.  This is a badass instrumental that sounds fresh and inspired, which in itself is an achievement considering how old the song really is.  I’m all about it though…I’m not entirely sure if the halfway mark was the right spot for it on No One’s Coming as it makes us have to readjust back to the more familiar combinations of Bill’s music that come afterward, so I’d have probably put it right at the end in this instance, but I’d still dig “Commuting” wherever it was.

“My Dog Has Superpowers” is the kind of cut that a dog owner is gonna get, and the rest of the world just won’t – and that’s too bad for them.  “I want to greet the world each day like my dog greets me at my door” – what a fantastic line!  Insightful AF too if you ask me – I couldn’t agree more.  If we all had that kind of positive enthusiasm and excitement goin’ on, this whole planet would be AMAZING to live on.  Bill’s right in pointing out that we have so much to learn from our most loyal furry friends though.  Sometimes I sit for hours with my dog Opie, just watching her play with a couple of her toys.  She’s got a few boxes of’em here & there, but she really only needs the one she’s playing with.  I feel like there’s a lesson there for sure…it’s a reminder of how the simplest pleasures in life are exactly that.  We don’t need to be doing ten things at once, and we don’t need much at all to be happy.  Dogs continually show us the beauty in simplicity.  When we go for walks and Opie wants to take all damn day sniffing every bush, I take that as my own cue to slow down and enjoy the moment, as opposed to try and hurry her home.  So heck yeah Bill, I get where you’re coming from – “My Dog Has Superpowers” too.  You get the sweetness of Owens in action on this song…his wonderfully observant mind and unique perspective at its best…and c’mon y’all, it’s a track about an incredible dog – who wouldn’t have time for that?  Not to harp on the point Mr. Owens my good man, but please, more songs about dogs, and less about math.

So…hmm…I’m not entirely sure what I think about “Everything Communicates.”  I think when it comes to this particular tune, I’m a bit more onboard with the music than I am with the vocal melody.  This cut’s pretty darn loose when it comes right down to it…not too different from what you might assume it would be like to just give Bill a beat and a microphone and see what happens, you know what I mean?  On the one hand, “Everything Communicates” is written about being fairly aloof and falling apart, so it’s fair to say that having a performance that somewhat matches that ain’t exactly a bad thing…but at the same time, I feel like we’re missing some of that purpose, intent, and confidence that Owens tends to bring to his material too.  It has highly relatable moments, don’t get me wrong – like “lately I get most of my clothes from bands at shows” – me too (and always!) – or, “my look may be disheveled, but sheveled was never my goal” – again, me too (and always!).  I think it’s actually been years since I brushed or combed my hair…it sits where it sits, it does what it does, and when it starts to bug me, I shave myself bald and let the process begin again.  Way easier to manage than all that personal primping.  Anyhow.  “The mirror’s not my friend” either Bill…we’re two peas in a pod I tell ya.  I’m comfortable with that.

I feel like Bill’s still got a few opportunities for evolution as an artist, and most particularly in how he sings…he’s got room for more diversity there, and I think he knows that deep down.  Take a track like “casual(ties)” for example – this tune does show us more flexibility and more of his real singing voice, which I think is a good move.  Where I’d recommend he looks at the potential to do more, is in how short the cadence of his words can tend to be – he’s very direct a lot of the time, like you’ll hear him in the first verse of “casual(ties)” for example.  It can create a bit of choppiness to the flow, as opposed to finding a way to draw things out a little bit more & fill some more space with longer notes – make sense?  I keep coming to my favorite line in the whole song – “everyone expires, though some of us first die inside” – I feel like he’s got so much more room in this moment of the song to really sing it out loud, know what I mean?  So he ends up with this kind of matter-of-fact like delivery…which can totally be interpreted as part of his signature sound to a degree and I get that – all I’m saying is that he might be cutting the potential of a moment as short as his words at times.  I’d play around with that if I were him, and see what else is available.  Because he’s got his thing, and that can both work for and against any artist.  I was watching this recent special episode of The Black Adder not too long ago, where they asked the writers why in the heck they’d ever stop making the show, and the answer was spectacularly insightful.  They basically said something to the effect of how they’d discovered they had a formula that they felt like they relied too heavily on, and that was when it was time for them to call it quits and move onto whatever was next.  I think we tend to fall into patterns as artists – I’m just as guilty as anyone else in the way that I write my reviews to a large degree, so don’t get it twisted, I’m not being hypocritical.  We always have the option & more opportunity to do things differently though, without compromising our vision, sound, or style…it requires taking a step back to observe, some objectivity, and a whole lot of experimentation.  I ain’t saying it’ll always work out, but it’s better to have the opportunity than to not, you know?  “casual(ties)” gives you a glimpse of some of Bill’s best vocal melody when the chorus first begins, and wraps by revealing that he’s still got room to evolve in his art even more, should he want to.

To conclude the record, our friend Bill examines another smart concept on his title-track, which is really about that moment where we realize we’re the last line of defense for ourselves.  “I am the cavalry, no one’s riding to save me, I’m the adult now, there’s no one coming to rescue me,” he sings…and he’s right about that I’m sure.  It’s eventually true for all of us, more or less.  At some point, we look around with our parents gone, and we become the heads of our own state.  Free to succeed, free to fail, but scared all the same.  At the very least, it’s a concept that would take some getting used to.  I’m theorizing here of course…I won’t have that luxury for very long as I have parents that are about five minutes older than I am, so they’ll be around for forever, for better or for worse.  Some of the better music I’ve heard in Blunt Objects appears in this tune, or perhaps more well-rounded in a traditional sense might be a better way to put it.  Generally speaking, I like the vast majority of what I’ve heard in the catalog from the electro oddities to the more straightforward tunes like we get here at the end in “No One’s Coming.”  Many tunes you’ll find in Bill’s writing reflect on age in some way, shape or form, and that would include this last track on his latest record too…eventually, time makes it so that “No One’s Coming” to save any of us and we realize we’ve gotta save ourselves, as if that’s even possible now in a world gone mad.  It’s a quality tune to finish up the album that gives this last cut in the lineup another shot of the accessibility that it all started up with, bringing the record full circle to give you another reason to push the repeat button.  Dig the added elements in the music, dig the background vocals…it’s a satisfying conclusion to what’s been one of the stronger albums by Blunt Objects, revealing this project’s growth and evolution.

Find out more about Blunt Objects at the official website:  https://bluntobjects.bandzoogle.com

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