Giant Sand : proVisions :: Review
After a four-year absence, Giant Sand returns with the album proVisions. On this album, Howe Gelb has enlisted some high-profile extras such as M. Ward, Isobel Campbell and Neko Case. It seems that Gelb has chosen a who’s who amongst current Americana superstars to infuse this album with a little more muscle. The album starts off strongly with the first three tracks all featuring the extra help of the guest musicians. Howe Gelb even channels “Sultans of Swing” into his lively track “Without a Word.” After the musical guests leave the party ends.
The album tends to become a little morose. Gelb populates the songs with an allotment of losers and lost souls who are desperately trying to cling to some sort of salvation. In most cases, Gelb illustrates these cases without interfering, and he lets them tell their tales. The album does not lose its musicianship after his guest stars leave, but some of the grimness is a little overwhelming and clichéd. It seems that Gelb works best when he has some sort of foil to play his ideas off.
The album picks up with the vaguely political song “Pitch & Sway” which features a sassy guitar riff that seems to pick the album out of its malaise. The jaunty “Muck Machine” follows in suit and brings a bizarre jazzy fever dream to the album. “Belly Full of Fire” and “Saturated Beyond Repair” reminded me of a more lysergic Lyle Lovett, with “Saturated Beyond Repair” being the better of the two songs. The album closes with a blues dirge, before Gelb offers a ray of hope with “Well Enough Alone.”
Album Grade : C-
RIYL : Mark Knopfler, Tom Waits, Calexico
