Kids say the darnedest things, at least according to Art Linkletter. (Ask your grandmother.) And I’m pretty certain that if they heard Big Green’s latest album, In Retrograde, they would more than meet old Art’s expectations. It’s the darnedest collection of songs we’ve ever released. You can quote me on that.
Thing is, we’re not talking about kids here, my fine friend. We’re talking about reviewers and listeners. That, as they say, is where the rubber meets the road. And with an album like In Retrograde, they’re leaving skid marks.
The big picture
So, what the heck are they saying about this box of two dozen songs? Let’s start with the reviewers. Here’s what Leif Zurmuhlen (friend of the band) had to say about the album in Metroland Now:
Don’t let the cold, soulless retro robot on the album cover fool you; Big Green’s In Retrograde is brimming with songs filled with so much humanity and compassion that it could reduce a full-grown mechanical man to a weeping puddle of rust.
Damn, he’s good! Sticking with general comments, check out what reviewer Jenna Sents had to say in NYS Music:
In Retrograde, takes an overall turn away from their usual ironic and humorous writing and steps into a more sentimental territory. “There’s a lot of pain and there’s a lot of angst. “I’m not really sure a lot of that was consciously put into the songs,” Matt Perry said about the lyric writing process. He notes himself as a “compulsive songwriter.” For Matt Perry, writing poetry for this album was like doing a psychological evaluation, he said.
True that. But these are professionals. What about the ordinary folks? What does the person on the street think of this particular bag of tricks? Well, Ben on Facebook calls it “Garbage”. Not everyone on Meta wanted to leave us at the curb, however. John’s comment was “Cool art”. And Charles said, “Sounds great ….. if you like dead silence.” (I’m calling that a maybe.)
Down in the weeds
Here’s what reviewers had to say about individual tracks:
Matt goes Cat Stevens-y with the delicate stand-out track “Tear Inside My Eye” and “When Will I See You Again?”. His electric guitar is Neil Young-crunchy on “Where is the Sun” and his acoustic is Lindsay Buckingham-nimble on the folky “Follow You”. Meanwhile, Joe’s keyboards are funky like Billy Preston for “Sound Asleep” and churchy like Procol Harum on “I Found You”.
The catchy “Meet Me In The Middle” bounces along like the theme song from a ‘70s sitcom that never existed. Matt argues that meat is murder in “Can’t Be Without You” singing, “What’s it like to be tied and then boiled alive?”. And “Don’t Unfriend Me” tramples in like an XTC track with Joe expressing that he is willing to take all manner of abuse, so long as he still gets likes: “I saw your anger emoji under the pictures from my destination wedding, but I don’t care if you offend me, please don’t unfriend me, don’t walk away…”.
– Leif Zurmuhlen
The album begins with “Alone for a Day,” a 70s-inspired funk rock song with layered vocals and warbly synth. The driving snare beats and distorted, yet distant guitar make the listener feel like they are floating through space.
“Is It Wrong” takes a darker turn on the album, creating a feeling of someone walking aimlessly around with their thoughts. The haunted vocals further this feeling with lyrics about being unsure if you’re in the right relationship. It starts out with a simple love-song-esk line: “I love you // So I wrote out this song.” By the chorus confliction and self-doubt plagues the speaker: “Is it wrong, is it wrong, // Is it wrong for me to want to be with you, // Is it right, is it right, // Is it right, I should tolerate the solitude.”
“Don’t Unfriend Me,” written by Joe Perry, is a humorous song about a social media stalker. The track makes fun of the parasocial relationship a needy stalker can have over someone they “follow” on social media. Meanwhile, the person being “followed” barely known of their existence. In the penultimate track, “You Can’t Help,” takes the listener on a journey about the doubts and struggles of a relationship. Each verse adds a new though around the inner conflict about letting someone see your most vulnerable self.
– Jenna Sents
Your turn
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