Badlands by Dirty Beaches (3/5)

Must Hear Tracks: “Sweet 17” “True Blue” “Lord Knows Best”

Badlands begins with three rather Can-esque tracks (Speedway King, Horses, and Sweet 17). Repetitive drum beats, plucky, hypnotic bass lines, and disjointed vocals abound. Furthering the connection to Can is a sense of momentum that radiates from each song. While rhythmically very static, the driving rhythms and rising tension in each of the three opening songs gets Badlands off to a running start.

Track 4 (A Hundred Highways) marks a shift in the pace of the record. The running start slows to a comfortable and swaggering walk. The song sounds like the drunken cousin of Devendra Banhart’s “Little Boys,” which is meant wholly as a compliment. Low, bouncy vocals contrast nicely with a grimy distorted bass line. A Hundred Highways also represents a shift toward more traditional pop melodies and song structures. It acts as a prelude to the most satisfying song on the album: True Blue. While it starts off like a reworking of “Be My Baby” by The Ronettes, True Blue is more formidable than a simple imitation. Alex Zhang Hungtai’s jump to falsetto during the chorus provides the extra bit of flair necessary to distance himself from the era he seems to draw so many of his influences from. It is Badlands’ musical peak, representing a moment of blue sky on an otherwise very cloudy album. This peak is followed by the cathartic “Lord Knows Best,” which is the symbolic end of the album. Carried by a delightfully tight and comforting piano riff, the track feels like soundtrack to the final scene in a Dazed and Confused sequel where all they do is drive across the country, ending in Los Angles as the sun goes down. Roll credits.

“Lord Knows Best” is the last song on the record with vocals. The remaining two tracks (Black Nylon and Hotel) are grinding instrumentals which slow the pace further from a swaggering walk to a standstill. While some may surely find this shift unnecessary and rather boring, in the context of the record itself, these two songs provide a nice buffer after the symbolic close of the album. It’s as if listeners are offered filler tracks to they can reflect on the more memorable ones. While this isn’t a particularly good strategy for making a consistently riveting album, I find it interesting. It adds to the Badlands’ strength as a complete work in my opinion. It’s unconventional. If Badlands is really the journey of some Speedway King, these tracks narrate the lonely nights on the road long after the initial adrenaline rush of the trip is gone.

While most of the album (both the songs themselves, and the lo-fi cellophane production) pushes towards a wholly retro sound, just enough is done to establish the album as a product of 2011. Whether it be a jarring guitar slash or a more contemporary vocal flourish, the album always maintains a vague aura of modernity. In a way, it’s too stereotypically 60’s to actually be from the 60’s. Nonetheless, Dirty Beaches’ familiar chord progressions and melodies pair very nicely with the vintage production. The album plays through very quickly and effortlessly. It practically begs to be replayed.