Smith Westerns: Smith Westerns

Smith Westerns

Label: Fat Possum

The resurgence of the lo-fi movement in recent years has been peculiar for many reasons but consistency of approach has never been a problem for the genre. Lo-fi acts of the past two decades have been largely confined to the punk and garage rock spheres, making the peculiarity of hearing hissy recordings in a century that has made pristine production available to pretty much everyone easier to stomach due to the knowledge that those acts were likely utilizing that production choice as a nod to their predecessors or in an effort to divorce themselves from their more commercial peers. What then when a glam rock group enters the picture?

Make no mistake; the Smith Westerns are decidedly a glam band on their recent self-titled effort. The Google image results for the band admittedly more often feature the group in typical indie dress than androgynous outfits, but the specters of David Bowie and Marc Bolan are present nonetheless, from the T. Rexified guitar and beat of “Girl In Love” to the Hunky Dory proto-twee styling of “Boys Are Fine.” That aforementioned androgyny even pops up in the titles, with the fixations on “Diamond Boys” and “The Glam Goddess.”

While the recordings are firmly in the red, the Smith Westerns haven’t really done much to hide the hedonistic thick guitar pop they’re crafting, making the production all the weirder. To play psychoanalyst for a moment, it’s hard not to suspect there’s some issues with self-esteem going on, that the band felt they had to hide their true identities, particularly when observing a single as deviously catchy as “Be My Girl,” an internet hit of sorts when this album was first issued. A fine slice of ’70s pop if ever there was one, “Be My Girl” is the type of hormone-driven adolescent anthem that could comfortably sit alongside “Teenage Kicks-” its simple lead the definition of ear worm, the vocal the picture of lust, coy and alternately nervous and cocky, the title both a question and a demand. The tape hiss does absolutely nothing to keep any of this from being palatable.

Better production may have brought out more nuance in the tracks and would have allowed the album to more closely match its influences, but it’s hard to fault the band when the no-frills recording quality does such an excellent job of forcing listeners to focus on the songs themselves. The handclaps on “We Stay Out” could have been a distraction instead of charmingly ramshackle, just as the cutesy backing vocals of “The Glam Goddess” could have usurped the lead vocal. The production values don’t add anything, per se, and on the more epic moments, like the stunning “Diamond Boys” and its especially Bowie-esque piano, clarity would have been nice, but it’s ultimately more of a neutral issue than an obstacle.

Are the Smith Westerns so concerned about their glam influences coming across as corny that the lo-fi filter was deemed their best bet? Were they worried the DIY police in Black Lips would beat them up? Who knows? In the end it just winds up being a trick of identity as effective as Ziggy Stardust at breaking through to overly skeptical audiences. Don’t hate them because they’ve covered themselves in dirt to fit in, hate them because they’re better than you and likely to steal your girlfriend.

by Nick Hanover

Key Tracks: Diamond Boys, Girl in Love