Pages tagged “freakwater”

After folk opener Freakwater, as a celebrity-induced tension fell over the unnaturally hushed Variety Playhouse crowd waiting for M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel to take the stage, my skepticism abounded. I wondered whether all these people were excited about the music they were about to hear, or were they just waiting to see a movie star? I wondered if the music would hold up to "vanity project" scrutiny. (I enjoyed She & Him's recent debut, Volume One, but wasn't floored by it.) I wondered if She & Him performances were as awkward as they'd been rumored to be. I wondered what kind of contrast there would be between the veteran M. Ward's musicianship and newcomer Deschanel's.

Freakwater? More like Bleakwater!

Freakwater ?rst attracted attention while co-founder Janet Beveridge Bean was still in Chicago indie-rock favorite Eleventh Dream Day, but Bean and Catherine Ann Irwin have long since established that this is no side project. Now more than 15 years into a partnership revolving around relentlessly doomstruck old-time country music, Bean and Irwin infuse Thinking Of You… with as little hope or redemption as possible. With assistance by members of Califone, the album’s arrangements—complete with steel guitar and drowsily weeping strings—sound authentically timeless, albeit dispensed with the occasional wink. But a creeping sense of disingenuousness can’t help but work its way into Freakwater’s turgid miserablism and affected twang.

(Above [L-R]: Freakwater's Janet Beveridge Bean and Catherine Ann Irwin)

Considering the solo and side projects produced by Freakwater’s principals since 1999's End Time, the band itself seems the product of an earlier generation, much like its influences (Carter Family, Louvin Brothers, etc.). These returning alt.country heroes hit Chicago midway through a two-month tour supporting their new Thrill Jockey release Thinking of You. By the time Freakwater took the stage at Schuba's, any storage-related dust had long been replaced by dirt and grime accumulated on the road.

Freakwater opened with End Time's "Good for Nothing," performing with the grit of a consummate roadhouse band. The stoic David Wayne Gay chain-smoked at the back of the stage, dressed in all-black country attire (Western shirt, jeans and boots) while pushing the groove with his hard-traveled Rickenbacker bass. Tousle-haired and rumpled singer Catherine Ann Irwin drawled venomous pronouncements like "forgive and forget are words that never slid across my tongue," in contrast to her obvious zeal at performing alongside her longtime bandmates.

Chicago native and Eleventh Dream Day veteran Janet Beveridge Bean seemed the odd woman out visually, dressed as a stand-in for The Partridge Family's Shirley Jones with short blonde hair, ruffled white shirt and purple waistcoat. Her harmonies, however—which climbed to rarified heights during whiskey-soaked tear-jerker "Sap"—were pure Nashville heartbreak. Accompanied by longtime collaborator John Spiegel on dobro, Bean and Irwin traded wounded non-metaphors including "I fell like a thing that falls" and "I crashed like a thing that crashes," culminating with the telling "I broke like the kind of thing that just can't bend."

Califone's Jim Becker joined the band on violin during the cynical "Cricket Versus Ant." On the surface, the song spun a tale of the privileged enjoying the good life at the expense of the underclass.

Freakwater's lineup was rounded out by a pair of additional musicians. A pedal-steel player elevated material including the mournful "Jewel," and the band's drummer pulled triple duty, playing organ on "Loserville" (Irwin's backhanded tribute to her hometown, Louisville, Ky.), as well as bass clarinet and saxophone on other songs including rousing, Stonesy set closer "Hi Ho Silver."

The unrelentingly dark tone and hard-luck themes of Freakwater's lyrics were mitigated by banter from Bean and Irwin, the latter telling a groan-inducing shaggy-dog story which had apparently required regular visits to the library to assemble, gathering the names of all manner of primates. Irwin delighted in pitching her new licensed character to the crowd, guaranteeing that "Spermfoot" would someday eclipse the popularity of Mickey Mouse and Spongebob Squarepants. For now, fans can acquire the likeness of Irwin's brainchild on Freakwater t-shirts. It seems as good a means as any to launch a multi-media empire.