Off The Tracks

Off The Tracks
  • Blog
    • Interviews
    • Miscellany
    • Special Guests
    • Reviews
  • Podcasts
  • The Vinyl Countdown
  • Back Catalogue
  • About
    • About
    • About the banner image
    • On Song
    • Advertise
May 6, 2014 by Simon Sweetman

Sun Kil Moon: Benji

Sun Kil BenjiSun Kil Moon

Benji

Caldo Verde

In the gorgeous, mournful opener, Carissa, Mark Kozelek sings of the grieving around his second cousin dying in a freak yard fire. He needs to “get and give some hugs” even though he didn’t know her that well. She died taking the trash out at 35 years old. She died in much the same way as Kozelek’s uncle, her grandfather. From here the heartbreak and body count only continues.

Benji is the new Sun Kil Moon album. It’s also the best thing Kozelek has done. And that’s saying a lot given a recent return to great form with The Album Leaf and so many strong efforts as Sun Kil Moon, as/with Red House Painters and solo.

As good as a lot of the Sun Kil material has been I just reached my limit with Kozelek’s voice – and voicings. That palette, the 12-string, the downbeat, the grey hue, shadowy, morose – but Benji is something else. Not only a return to form, not only the best thing he’s released it’s something that actually threatens music to up its game. For this isn’t just an album, it’s a memoir-in-song, it’s a set of memoir moments in fact, it’s so many story-songs piled atop one another that it’s perfectly reasonable to be overwhelmed, to feel daunted by this level of introspection, the way he ignores almost everything about (standard) song-structure and delivers punishing quasi-raps and revealing prose poems about loving his father, hanging out with his mate Ben from The Postal Service and death. So much fucking death.

There’s Truck Driver about the uncle who is mentioned in Carissa, there’s a prayer for Newtown, mention of the Batman killer, Tony Soprano and of the death of serial killer Richard Ramirez, there’s the death too of his adolescence, beautifully realised across the 10-minute confessional, I Watched The Film The Song Remains The Same, where a dissection of what made Led Zeppelin great brings out the first time Kozelek was in a fight. You feel the shame he still feels, you feel the pain he conjures, his heart is close to bursting with grief as the album’s death toll climbs, as he collects victims to cling to, to wring grief from, to pass on whatever hugs he can.

There are moments where confession turns to cringe too (Dogs) as Kozelek is frank about awkward first sexual encounters, but when this album hits its emotional high points (Micheline, Song Remains, Truck Driver, Ramirez, Pray for Newtown, I Love My Dad, I Can’t Live Without My Mother’s Love and most of Ben’s My Friend) it’s not only exhilarating but deeply profound, a spiritual feeling exudes; it’s music only nominally. Beyond that it seeks to clarify, to question, to ponder, it hopes to arrive at head held high moments, at redemption, it isn’t just a bunch of songs – it would be reasonable to see it as a life’s work. For it reflects so much of a life set to work, to working, to working things out.

And yet you get the feeling that whilst this will stand – it’ll be not only one of the great records, Kozelekthe greatest – deepest – most thrilling listening experiences this year and across other years – it is, for Mark Kozelek, just another bunch of songs. Just like there’ll be more to come. And soon. He might even beat this as his best album. It feels like the fire has been lit. Oh shit, I can’t really feel good about saying that here. But the roll has been started. This is something so much bigger and better than almost all of the shit you shovel into yourself and call music. It’s so good you’d have to expect crushing indifference from many. And you can certainly hope to imagine Kozelek getting ready to better it. And then to maybe even beat it again just after that. But surely he must know that this is just a little bit special. And that this album is getting and giving so many hugs.

Posted in Blog, Reviews and tagged with Album Review, Benji, Mark Kozelek, Red House Painters, Sun Kil Moon. RSS 2.0 feed.
« Pharoahe Monch: P.T.S.D. – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Poem: The Last-Minute Cycle »

2 Responses to Sun Kil Moon: Benji

  1. Pingback: Sun Kil Moon to play One NZ Show: Great South Pacific Tuning Fork (May 28, 2017)

  2. Pingback: Mali Mali: As A Dog Dreams

Popular

  • Janna Lapidus Leblanc: Four Years In Pictures
  • The Sad Story of Bob Welch: Fleetwood Mac’s Most Undervalued Member
  • The Best Guitarist in The World: # 8 – Mark Knopfler
  • John Patitucci / Vinnie Colaiuta / Bill Cunliffe: TRIO
  • The Best Guitarist in The World: # 11 – Lindsey Buckingham
  • V/A: True Colours, New Colours
  • Poem: “It Was Like Watching Myself Die”
  • Substack: “Sounds Good!”
  • Sweetman Podcast # 247: Talia Marshall
  • Drummers You Just Can’t Beat: # 12 – Mick Fleetwood

Archives

Tags

Album Review Auckland Book Book Review Chat Compilation DJ DVD DVD Review EP Film Film Review Gig Gig Review Guest Blog Guitar Interview Jazz Jon Mcleary Live Live Gig LP Movie Music NZ Podcast Poem Record Records Simon Sweetman Soundtrack Spines Spotify Stub Stubs Sweetman Podcast The Ghost of Electricity The Spines The Vinyl Countdown Vinyl Wellington Wgtn Writing You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron [OST]

Categories

  • Back Catalogue
  • Blog
  • Interviews
  • Miscellany
  • Mixtapes
  • Playlists
  • Podcasts
  • Reviews
  • Scene Of The Day
  • Special Guests
  • The Vinyl Countdown

Off The Tracks is the home of Sweetman Podcast, a weekly interview/chat-based pod. It's also home to my reviews across film, TV, music and books and some creative writing as well.

Off The Tracks aims to provide quality reviews and essays, regular blog updates about the shows, albums, books and movies you should be experiencing.

It's a passion project. Your support will help to keep Off The Tracks online.

All content © 2021 by Off The Tracks. WordPress Themes by Graph Paper Press