Snow
Job - track by track.
Jack
Frost Blues -
The
opening track here defines the rest of the album. Great
riffs, great harmonies and great lyrics. The guitar riff
swells from nowhere until the other instruments eventually
capitulate and join the fray. The harmonies are lush and
full. GW opens up shop and sets the pitch, "Hope you have
a good time." It is not until after the second chorus and
breakdown that SK's voice finally croaks the appropriate
lines, "Drifters drift into focus..."
Sometimes
it is hard to distinguish between their voices, this is
not one of those moments. Interestingly the melody in the
"They should know better the way that you are" line echoes
the early Church B-side "In a Heartbeat", complete with
harmony.
Of
course, in understanding this track, the rest of the album
takes on a new meaning, the "pitch" however, may take some
explaining.
One
of GW's working paradigms is an interesting one. In this
state of GW's mind he is not the considerate singer/songwriter/musician
whom we know and love. He is actually an actor, playing
the part of the considerate singer/songwriter/musician whom
we know and love. With this psycho-illogical vocational
twist GW outlines the whole JF scam. In this song he watches
the whole album unfold as if it is a film....well, do you
get it?
Aviatrix -SK and GW with a close vocal double. This
song, while essentially lyrically sad, seems buoyant and
hopeful. It is about Amelia Earhart, the famous aviatrix,
who did disappear in clear air. The ambient section at the
end is Simon Polinski letting the track go through his patented
selection of reverbs and delays. An effect he put to good
use on the Fake accompanying ambient album. Here it serves
to leave a vapour trail on Amelia's journey to nowhere.
Running
From The Body - Again a beautiful and intricate guitar
line. SK takes the main melody line in the left speaker
while GW adds texture for the most part in the right. Coming
in at 2.25 mins this song makes Aviatrix before seems like
an epic. It is another GW script in his own head, unfortunately
for SK, one in which he is a bit player who doesn't know
the plot. Someone has apparently been murdered.
Shakedown
-Grant again takes the lead vocal. Over a driving and
repetitive guitar riff GW reads from another internal movie.
This repetitiveness allows for the final scene, a punch
line, a very long drum roll followed by a razor blade finish.
Here Jack Frost play with traditional song structures and
all under 2 minutes!
You
Don't Know - Structurally one of the more complex on
the record. SK had the music completely finished before
GW arrived and plays everything bar drums (TP of course)
He hands over the reigns to GW for the vocals. Contains
sample of Sandy Chick, from the Fake sessions. A fine song
with a wonderful melody.
Weightless
and Wild - This seems to be a favourite with a lot of
people. For his own part SK has referred to it as "A sloppy
old waltz."
Pony
Express - Back to some great guitars. The title is GW's.
It's relationship to the song and lyrics is unknown. Reputedly
about Ava Gardner, the film star. The lush harmonies here
on the chorus show both SK and GW in fine voice.
Cousin/Angel
- This song was written during the first recording session
for this album. Another nice acoustic guitar riff leads
into the harder chorus. If you squint your ears in just
the right way you can almost hear the verse to "California
Dreaming" in it, or, you can at least hear the call and
response type of vocal there used. Fantastic builds and
key changes for the guitar solo. (!)
Little
Song - As
the name suggests. During their live shows SK would often
comment, "This song was written by Grant during his stay
in a Turkish prison..." It was not mentioned what he was
in for, presumably impersonating a musician. (see GW's actor
theory). This track definitely has a guitar solo, played
by GW. Listen for the quick fade a la sixties records.
Empire
- Written between the first album and this one. This
song sat around for some time and hence sounds the odd song
out on this CD. Swirling strings, fretless bass, this is
SK's absolute favourite track on the record.
Angela
Carter - One of SK's favourite authors. He was in a
deep AC phase while making this disk. "Every fucker should
read her..." he says. Grant gives his vocal performance
of CD. 12 strings played high to sound like a mandolin.
Great chord changes which keep you guessing. This is JF
at their finest. Almost a guitar solo in fade.
Haze
- Here SK and GW are recollecting memories of a strange
and estranged childhood in Australia long ago. Another example
of how they manage to keep the listener's interest over
what is predominantly one chord. No easy feat. And again,
when the change comes in it is all the more welcomed. As
most of these tracks, when things quiet down, you can hear
SK and GW writing the songs on their acoustics as they go.
Nice piano tinkling.
Dry
Dock - A rollicking and irrelevant rocker to
close the record on an anti-pompous note. You can almost
see them with their feet up on the monitors. (Again, only
if you squint your eyes just right.) Hear GW give solo instructions
to SK, "Yeah when it gets to that bit go wah wah wah. And
he does.
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