Gettin' Gone

Album review

Although western Massachusetts duo MV & EE (Matt Valentine and Erika Elder to their folks) are nominally lumped in with the so-called "weird folk" scene, there is nothing of the self-conscious Donovanisms of Devendra Banhart about their second album. Gettin' Gone sounds much more like a fantasy collaboration between On the Beach-era Neil Young and Dinosaur Jr. circa Where You Been. (They come about the latter comparison honestly: J Mascis is one of the album's three drummers.) The twangy country and acoustic folk elements of these 13 songs are neatly counterbalanced by a lot of full-throated electric feedback squalls. Indeed, on some songs, such as the raucous opener, "Susquehanna (Sole Art Trample)," the psychedelicized heaviness of the guitars overwhelms everything else in its path. Elsewhere, as on "Home Comfort" and the aptly titled "Country Fried," lap steel and mandolin provide a cozily druggy wash of sound that allows Valentine to fully indulge himself in a naked imitation of Young's trademark strangulated yowl of a voice; more uptempo songs force him to abandon the homage. Gettin' Gone is the sort of album that is so unashamed about its influences and so enthusiastic about its re-creations of same that complaints about lack of originality miss the point entirely: this is an album by Neil Young, Dinosaur Jr., and Sonic Youth fans (note its release on Northampton, MA, homeboy Thurston Moore's side label) for Neil Young, Dinosaur Jr., and Sonic Youth fans, and what's wrong with that?

© Stewart Mason /TiVo