at a glance...

Hometown: Chicago, IL
Year Formed: 1990

Members:
Bill Callahan -instrument, voice, guitar, synthesizer, jaw harp, piano
Additonal musicians:
Matt Lux -bass
Jeff Parker -guitar
John McEntire -drums, perc. synthesizer
Rich Schuler -drums
The Dongettes -Jennifer Collins, Nicole Evans, Damian Rogers

Bands In The Family:
Gastr Del Sol, You Fantastic!, Cheer Accident, Tortoise

Notes:
Smog is essentially Bill Callahan, an itinerant singer-song writer who has worked alone and with many other musicians. His early records were filled with murky, blackly humorous odes to an autistic, shut-in lifestyle; more recent albums are full of well recorded documentations of the trials and tribulations of a schizoid way of life. 1997's Red Apple Falls saw Callahan plumbing even bleaker depths. Dongs Of Sevotion is Smog's latest release.

Links:
Smog Interview

How deeply will you let yourself feel; how far will you go to experience passion and completely lose your inhibitions? On Dongs of Sevotion, Smog mastermind Bill Callahan challenges you to find out. At first listen, this album is downbeat minimalism à la Leonard Cohen, but it actually covers a lot of ground. From indie angst and tribal drumbeats to classic soul, with his monochromatic voice and experimental sounds, Callahan casts an enticing and inescapable spell.

An unorthodox final celebration of a good life, "Dress Sexy at My Funeral," is a last will and testament that shows no fear, proclaiming "dress sexy at my funeral my good wife, for the first time in your life, wink at the minister, blow kisses to my brothers... tell them about the time we did it on the beach with the fireworks above us." "Strayed" is so chill, so groovy, the lyrics "I have loved in haste, I've been an alley cat and a bumblebee to your panther and your wasp," melt off his lips. It's like Barry White crooning to a devoted female audience willing to forgive him any infidelity to keep the music playing.

The crux of the album, the wicked "Bloodflow," is a flashback to an intensely creepy yet exotic acid trip. With heightened senses, Callahan plays shaman in the vein of Jim Morrison's "Not to Touch the Earth," the kind of song that makes you imagine that at any moment, people will tear off their clothes and start spinning around a desert bonfire. The "Dongettes" backing chorus, "no time for a tête-à-tête, can I borrow your machete," is disturbing but addictive, recalling the infamous "one two Freddy's coming for you" nursery rhyme from "A Nightmare on Elm Street."

Like their noxious name, Smog's music is not wholesome, but the wind will always return to blow away the thick brown haze that clouds the surface.

If you like Smog, check out:
Smog Red Apple Falls
Silver Jews American Water
Tom Waits The Mule Variations
The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground and Nico
Pavement Wowee Zowee
Leonard Cohen Songs From a Room

-- Joanna Lux

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