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 Click for music events Syked Out Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter open the halls
Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter are an ethereal bunch, creating
late-night soundtracks to long drives across the States, long nights
with a lover or never-ending evenings of vast melancholy, loneliness and
doubt. Unlike many other outfits, the band is able to pull such
intensely distinct feelings from a listener--one moment you're on top of
the world, the next, well, isn't there a little bit left in that bottle
of Jack?
Since 2003's exquisite "Reckless Burning," the Seattle crew's
debut record, the group has combined the sounds of folk, Americana,
alt-country, pop rock, country country and, perhaps most
importantly, Southern gothic, which delivers an atmosphere of sweaty,
laboring nights, where sex is near and impending doom weighs heavy.
2004's "Oh, My Girl" opened the band up to a wider audience--the
music's fragility was in place, somber, meditative songs that balance a
fine line between desolation and hope.
But it's never too late to kick a little ass. Last week the band
stuck "Like, Love, Lust & The Open Halls of the Soul" (Barsuk) on
shelves, and, while the initial elements that made the band creatively
successful are in place, the group reaches even farther into a
blues-riddled landscape, guitarist Phil Wandscher (formerly of
Whiskeytown) leaping headfirst into distorted, jarring solos that bridge
Sykes' meaty, serene hooks. The record's hopeful, too--perhaps Sykes'
most optimistic--as she's seemingly on the side of happy endings, silver
linings, bittersweet goodbyes and all that you'll find on the sides of
lightless country roads.
"I never consciously write hopeful or dark [songs]," Sykes says.
"It's a state of being. I think the pure essence of what I am as a
human is a hopeful, loving person. I have a lot of faith--not religious,
just faith. Even though I do suffer from a dark side--like the best of
us--I think it's a very tenderhearted record. I want people to feel
embraced by it, that it's wrapping arms around them in some way."
Sykes says it's more of a celebration. "Like country gospel, that's
what that music is about. We're all gonna die someday, but let's
celebrate that knowledge, get lost in the moment, revel in it. Hope is
essentially the knowledge that darkness exists. Hope is a manifestation
of fear--fear of despair, obviously you can't sing about hope if you
don't acknowledge that darkness is also there. I think that lyrically,
people get a little confused about where I'm coming from. I just feel
hope is embedded in every song."
She says that the style of the new album, the added aggressiveness,
was a byproduct of her uncuffing herself during the initial process of
writing. "In this case, I didn't edit myself," she says. "I really
allowed myself to follow ideas through, even if they seemed out of the
comfort zone. [I think my] songwriting has gotten better. Something
caught up with me--my conscious and my subconscious have collided, in
the context of my writing. The first two records were a little more
minimalist. In this case, the arrangements are more complex, the
structures are more realized."
While there are many admirers, some feel eager to label the band
alt-country and be done with it, much to the dismay of the group. Sykes
mentions a recent review in which the critic says the new record lacks
anything groundbreaking. "Well, if it's in the context to ourselves,
then we are [breaking new ground]," she says. "If it's in context to
everything since the beginning of rock `n' roll, then who the hell
is groundbreaking right now? Are you singing your fucking guts
out? Yeah. Being a scientist, reinventing the wheel--that's not what I'm
interested in. I just want to sing to save my life, and take some people
by the hand with me."
Sykes, in her late-thirties, may be at an advantage--in terms of
songwriting, she's assembled much life experience, has the gift of
hindsight, at least compared to most of her peers (she jokes about
labelmates Smoosh, a band that consists of two barely teenaged girls).
"Absolutely," she says of the benefits of age. "In the sense that I
have no expectation anymore. I have emotional expectations. I'm so
utterly honored when someone buys our record--being older, when ego gets
the better of you, you can quickly check your head. When I say
expectations are low, it just means the ideas of success, it just
doesn't matter anymore. Because I'm at an age when a lot of people quit
fifteen years ago. Just getting older the main focus is trying to write
good songs, hoping that I keep getting better."
Downsides? "The only downside is that you can't stay up all night
and feel great the next day, like when you're 20. Basically I'm not
drinking or smoking at all on tour--my voice is trashed from dry weather
and not getting sleep. I can't really party." Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter play February 21 at Double Door,
1572 North Milwaukee, (773)489-3160, at 9pm. $18.
Also by Tom Lynch State of Grace
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