CD Review: ‘Rainy Day Music’ rightly titled

Rainy Day Music is not bright music, but it’s not dark.

Bittersweet is the best word for the album’s tone.

And pretty is the best word for the album’s neo-folk,

Simon and Garfunkel-esque sound – the album could have come

out of the ‘60s folk movement.

The guitars are easy, light and unobtrusive, lyrics are

sensitive and sober and sweetly sung harmonies abound.

In the band’s almost 20-year career, the Jayhawks have

morphed from an alternative country band, blending Big Star’s

power pop with the country rock of Gram Parsons, to its own brand

of lush, accessible, harmony-heavy power-pop.

The release of Smile in 2000 seems to have marked the end of

this trend, however. The follow-up, Rainy Day Music, ditches the

synths, overlays and thick textures of the past two albums.

The new album is not the alternative country of early Jayhawks

(save for the track “Tailspin”), but it does harken the

band’s earliest releases like “Hollywood Town

Hall,” with a simpler, folkier, more roots-based type of

sound (let’s call it folk-rock-power-pop).

Frontman Gary Louris writes mature and intelligent lyrics and

sings them with genuine empathy, never raising his voice.

Louris is not the only writer in the Jayhawks, however –

Marc Perlman writes the sad remorse of “Will I See You in

Heaven.”

Drummer Tim O’Reagan is the standout, though. On the

tracks “Don’t Let the World Get in Your Way” and

“Tampa to Tulsa” he not only realizes his true

potential as a songwriter but also as a singer.

The Louris song “Save It for a Rainy Day” stands out

for its swagger and radio friendliness. It is already in some

commercial radio playlists such as Columbia, Missouri’s

KBXR/102.3 FM.

But the O’Reagan song “Don’t Let the World Get

in Your Way” earns the distinction of being the prettiest,

most emotional and most heart-wrenching track on a disc already

characterized by such qualities.

He sings the song with a gentle nature, belying the power of the

track. He should have cried into the microphone.

The album, however, is chock full of beautiful bittersweet songs

– each one earning a distinction.

“Tailspin” is the only country song on the album

– we knew the Jayhawks still had a little country in

‘em – with its quiet banjo plucking and faint slide

guitar whines.

The electric-folk-pop of the opener, “Stumbling Through

the Dark,” is the most Birds-esque, while the acoustic

reprise of “Stumbling Through the Dark” is the most

Simon and Garfunkel-esque with its echoing harmonies.

Eric Linge, The Maneater (U. Missouri)

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