:: Track Listing

1. If I Were Not Alexander, I Would Like To Be ________
2. The Swineherd Sings And The Fountain Dwellers Grow Apart
3. Krull Courtship
4. The Putrid Dawn Is Only For Us, Baby
5. Fever Of The Patriots
6. New Soft And Shimmering Motherhood Alliance
7. See: There Is The Wisest
8. The Stuttered XXX Breeze XXX
9. The Painted Forest Screen Hides Its Witch
10. The Reticent Burglar's Den
11. The Transfiguration Of Bo-Brick-Ius
12. Meadows And Pleasant Madames, Or Something Of The Sort
13. The Hobo Who Learned To Eat Stone
14. The Quiet Merchant Gets His Song Too

:: Record Review

Blackout Beach

Light Flows the Putrid Dawn
(Soft Abuse; 2004)

Rating: 75%


It might seem like Frog Eyes' Carey Mercer has been prolific to Robert Pollard levels as of late, and you'd be right; after the release of The Golden River just last year, he released Ego Scriptor, an acoustic EP retelling of several Frog Eyes tracks, earlier this year. Then, months later, we got the group's new full length, The Folded Palm--an album that not only fulfills, but goes beyond, Golden River's promise. But those were not only released under a seperate name as this Blackout Beach record; Light Flows the Putrid Dawn was also conceived and recorded separately from the Frog Eyes material (and the record you have is Mercer solo, without his Frog Eyes companions), culled from many series of recordings over the past few years.

Under the new pseudonym, Mercer released Putrid Dawn a few months back, and though expectedly looked over from nearly all fronts, it's a fascinating record. More of an intense head-trip through Mercer's brilliantly twisted mind than the almost Costello-esque full-band approaches on "The Oscillator's Hum" and "Ship Destroyer," Putrid Dawn flows as a single piece, much like he had done for Ego Scriptor. Each idea breaks off into the next, often breaking any sense of continuity in turn for mood shifts that are as memorable as the record's hooks. Many of its best moments are its lyricless excursions, including the downright haunted ambience of "The Transfiguration of Bro-Bric-Ius."

It is a little short, and several of its better ideas end a little too soon, but Putrid Dawn is nevertheless another excellent addition to Mercer's already impressive discography and a great companion piece to both excellent Frog Eyes releases. Definitely something for fans of the group---or those still trying to figure this fucking guy out---to look into. Scott Reid :: 13 October 2004 |