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Elvis Perkins
Let's just get this out of the way first. Elvis Perkins, the folksinger, has some serious drama in his family tree. His father was actor Anthony Perkins, who sadly perished from complications from AIDS when Elvis was in his teens. His mother was the photographer Berinthia Berenson Perkins, who was a victim of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, as an unlucky passenger of Flight 11. The plane, carrying eighty-one passengers, nine flight attendants and two pilots, crashed into the World Trade Center, killing all aboard.
But you already knew that. You might already have your own mixed feelings about 9/11, your own memories of the pain, the suffering, the anguish, the healing, the aftermath, the mourning, the recovery. Elvis Perkins' music reflects all of these complex emotions, but, mostly important, the feeling of companionship among all humans, the feeling of being family with perfect strangers. Perkins' Ash Wednesday is not filled with tiny violins, whining about misfortunes past. You will not find sad-sack songs of love and loss. What you will find is thoughtfulness, sincerity, and a graceful touch. His music can easily be classified as folk-pop but Perkins doesn't bow down to the obvious; his plaintive folk inclinations are belied by uptempo beats, sly ironies, or boldly personal (Exhibit A: the starkly personal "Ash Wednesday"). Most of these songs were written in the years following his mother's death and you can almost hear him finding his way through the darkness, the leathery scar tissue forming over deep wounds.
I hear traces of Dylan, Cohen and both Buckleys but only faintly as Perkins finds his own path through well-trodden territory. Even better, Elvis Perkins' live performances amp up his delicate, colorful instrumentation, as his band swings on harmonium, upright bass, and marching-band drums. Few other songwriters could get away with having a chorus of voices singing, harmonizing, "On Mayday, Mayday / Can you hear the sound / Of the ambulances singing rounds down the avenue?" Ash Wednesday may be greatly influenced by tragic events, but I read an optimistic, stubborn streak of hope and acceptance within the songs.
Elvis Perkins - May Day
Elvis Perkins - Ash Wednesday
Elvis Perkins' official site. Buy Ash Wednesday from Amazon or iTunes.
Posted by Queen of the Front Row at 03.03.07 at 10:31 PM
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