SOUNDTRACK: ORVILLE PECK-NonCOMM (May 16, 2019).
I have been intrigued by Orville Peck what with his masked face and all. But then I heard this set and was disappointed.
What was even more disappointing was this blurb
Yeehaw is having a moment … country’s future has never seemed brighter.
My only hope is that the moment is brief and goes away soon.
Toronto-based Country crooner, Orville Peck, treated NonCOMM attendees to a taste of that future.
It’s interesting when you read a review of something and you wonder if you are listening to the same thing.
With his bulletproof voice, punk-inspired playing, and masked face, Peck put on a rousing and fringe-filled set.
His “bulletproof” voice sounds like a preposterous Elvis impersonation for most of “Dead of Night.” I’d heard this song on the radio, but his voice is even more insane here. I mean, if someone came out and started singing like that I’d be on the floor laughing, assuming we were both in on the joke.
Although reading this, I’m inclined to like him more:
His backing vocalist joined only for the line “see the boys as they walk on by,” perhaps to highlight the novelty of a country song being about a gay relationship.
And, yes, I do like that part of the torch song because his falsetto is much better than his Elvis.
Punk-inspired? Well, “Turn to Hate” has some fast guitars for sure, although it slows down in a way I don’t like by the end.
“Big Sky” just sounds so absurd to me, like he is trying so hard to hit those notes that it is comic. Again I feel like I listened to a different song that the blurb:
The somber “Big Sky” started slow, and dripping with melancholy. By the time Peck reached the second verse, it exploded.
In this case, exploded means it got slightly louder. Weird.
I do agree with the “thunderous stampede of ‘Buffalo Run’” which would have been great aside from the “head on by” croon.
The final song, “‘Take You Back’ was played like a straight-up country jam, complete with a whistled intro and outro.”
I obviosuly don’t like country music, but I do enjoy a good stomping track like this. Once again, it would be so much better if he didn’t try to croon like Elvis.
I guess people like him for this voice, but I don’t and, even worse, I found his voice mixed too loud throughout the show–it always seemed to be louder than the music.
His masks are cool, though.
[READ: June 1, 2019] “European Wedding”
I’ve enjoyed most of what I’ve read by Klam, but I found this story to be a little offputting.
It’s the story of, yes, a wedding in Europe. I enjoyed many of the details of it, but the characters all sucked.
Nobody wants to get married in France except for the bride’s mother who has family there. Gynnie the bride doesn’t want to get married there. No one in the groom’s family wants to even go to France.
The groom, Rich, is terrible. (It’s also odd that I recently read his 2017 novel Who is Rich about a man named Rich. It’s not the same Rich, but it is weird to have recycled the name).
Anyhow, as the story opens Rich is having sex with Nora, a client of his. He wanted to have a little makeout session as a kind of last fling before his wedding. But as soon as he kissed her, Nora took it really far. As she stripped, he found himself revolted by her. And as she was sitting on his face and he was gasping for breath, he was revolted by himself.
Klam describes this is detail from Rich’s point of view, which makes poor Nora seem quite ugly.
Next we meet Emile Marcus. Emile is the uncle of the bride, Gynnie. Although it’s possible he is the bride’s father. When the bride’s parents visited France many years ago, Emile had a quickie with the bride’s mother. Turns out the bride’s father was cancerous and dying. After Gynnie was born, Emile tried to determine if he was the father, but Gynnie’s mother kept telling him not to be ridiculous.
Rich flew to France the next day, just beating a storm. Gynnie smelled of flowers. Rich smelled of B.O.
Then we see that only the women in the wedding party have arrived in France so far. Gynnie’s father is dead as are many of the husbands of the women in the family. As for Rich’s side, none of the men in his party wanted to go to France (“faggoty Euro bullshit”) and decided to arrive as last as possible.
When Rich arrived Gynnie was lying in bed. She told him that he could use one half of the bedroom for his clothes.
He asked her why they were doing this. She signed and replied,
Because we’re desperate and we’re lonely and nothing better came along… You’re all I’ve got now and you’d better get used to it.
He replied that he was talking about his clothes, “why not just leave them in the suitcase and forget the dresser.”
The weather back home took a turn for the worst and all flights were grounded–the men in Rich’s family would not make the wedding.
Emile, being the only man at the wedding besides Rich tried to bond with the groom. Rich appreciated him until Emile told Rich in poor English that he looked like a baby. Rich was insulted and walked off.
The final line of the story just continues the weirdly insulting vulgar attitude.
Given the other stories that I’ve read from Klam, I assume this is some kind of satire, but man it is an ugly story with horrible people in it.
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