Album Review: Every Night – Saturday Looks Good to Me
In all honesty, I have to admit that I went into the process of this write-up with a negative bit of pre-existing bias. Over the course of 2004, I’ve seen Saturday Looks Good to Me play out a few times, and I was admittedly less than impressed with them (though, in all honesty, that was due more in part to the crappy sound quality at the venues those nights, and not the band’s performances). A few weeks ago, I had a chance to really sit down and listen to the band’s last release, All Your Summer Songs, which got me a bit more excited about the concept of this album.
From the cutesy, sparse Motown-ish opener, “Since You Stole My Heart,” to the string tinged acoustic lament of album closing, “When You Got to New York,” Every Night proves itself to be a worthy companion to Saturday Looks Good to Me’s previous material. The songs here are basically just an extension of the atmosphere and song writing style of All Your Summer Songs, with mastermind Fred Thomas painting a very 60’s influenced musical landscape with fifteen or so of his closest friends helping him out along the way.
While Every Night is a solid album from start to finish, a few tracks stand out noticeably. “We Can’t Work It Out” couples breathy vocals and a jangly electric guitar with a laid-back rhythm section that sounds like it came straight from some smoky jazz club; the result is downright pretty, especially when the strings come lulling in on the choruses. Thomas and company roll off quite the lazy pop song with “The Girl’s Distracted,” best described as two minutes of jangly pop bliss. Something about the song just seems magical (especially when the female vocals enter the mix), and the keyboard/string solo that punctuates the middle of the track adds a subtle touch of ‘pretty’ that sets the track apart from the rest of the album. The performances and production on “All Over Town” are very reminiscent of 50’s/60’s pop acts in all the right ways, though the opening to “Empty Room” admittedly sounds vaguely familiar (“Judy In Disguise,” anyone?).
Surprisingly, though, it seems like the song that leaves the most lasting impression is “When the Party Ends,” half of which is nothing more than Thomas singing over an acoustic guitar. The opening two minutes of the track are surprisingly solid (considering the fact that Thomas’s material seems represented best when one of his rotating cache of frontwomen is singing), though things really get good when the rhythm changes up. Thomas starts off on a rhyming tirade of sorts, as the intensity in his delivery builds, the rhythm behind his voice bulks up – first with a jangly electric guitar, and then a succession of string instruments; the end result is one of the more impassioned songs Thomas has ever committed to this project.
As someone who’s not a particularly huge fan of the whole Motown/60’s pop revival scene, I’ve gotta admit that Every Night is a very impressive listen. Much like the rest of the Saturday Looks Good to Me catalog, Every Night is the best sort of headphone music there is. Thomas has once again proven that he’s the master of the subtle nuance; from acoustic guitar pieces and keyboard parts to harps, accordions, glockenspiels, saxophones, trumpets, violins and cellos, every song on this release has musical flourishes tucked away in every nook and cranny of the mixes. The end result is one of the most satisfying, best fleshed out records thus far in 2004. Do your damnedest to hear this one on vinyl. – Gary Blackwell