I know I say far too often that albums are good, but this one is great; not ten out of ten, but a solid nine, and a pleasure to listen to. Wolfe has a gravelly voice like Tom Waits – and opener “Ophiuchus” suggests the album is going to be very Waitsian – but Wolfe’s music is more agile than Waits’s and skitters round a number of genres with real success.
In fact, if you see any comparison with Waits, it is more a sign that someone has not paid enough attention, as Wolfe could equally well be compared to Nick Cave, and “One Million Children” is as much Gogol Bordello as anything. This one is a sobering, angry song, the lyric commenting: “There are angels in hell / One million children / Does that ring a bell?” A later line – “From the river to the sea / We all will die” – reveals that Wolfe is thinking of children who have no say in the wars going on around them.
“Ophiuchus” begins like a Seth Lakeman style folk rocker, but then Wolfe goes full Waits, and there are some mighty hefts on the toms to give the song real power. Although there is folk strumming to be heard, it is more goth than folk.
“I deserve to be forgiven” is as country as it sounds, but among the woe is me are some drily comic and dark lines: “I lost my temper and said things to someone / I never wanted to hurt / And now they’re gone from my life” mingles with lines such as “And showed up to formal events woefully underdressed” and “I still left Mexico without my sweet wife / and still can’t find Larry’s knife”.
One line in particular sticks out: “I’ve been rock bottom for more than a couple / Of wonderful women who turned out to be excellent mothers”. At first listen I assumed it meant he had lived with some good women despite his faults, but later realised he had probably got them pregnant, abandoned them and left them to bring up children alone. Like good art, good music stays in the head. The last line is the twist in the tale: “So forgive me for forgiving myself” – the song is a big middle finger to all those he upset. All the lyrics are this good so I’m quoting no more.
“Rules of War” blends Tom Waits with a Latin dance shuffle (slow tango, I think). The lyrics are literal rules for war, showing how stupid the whole idea is: “Rule #2: Do whatever it takes”.
Standout for me is “Ascetic Sleep Song No. 4”, a wonderful song about depression whose refrain on melodica has made it a constant earworm.
This is out now. See aftonwolfe.bandcamp.com.
JMC
