Album Review: Home Is Where – ‘hunting season’
Posted: by The Alt Editing Staff
A large part of what makes Home Is Where’s fifth-wave emo via Neutral Milk Hotel and Bob Dylan so unique and fantastic is Bea MacDonald’s poetically cutting lyrics—lines that immediately jump out at you on first listen but are still rattling around your head months later; imagery that goes beyond simply being “evocative” of certain ideas and practically forces scenes of flammable cops, mall Santa Clauses getting curb stomped by altar boys, a woman lying as lifeless as a Bible in a hotel drawer, wedding dresses sewn from spat-up semen, and the numbing normality of everyone going back to work on September 12, 2001 into your consciousness. Their latest record hunting season (which is sure to be touted as their best yet, despite my personal feelings for the quick-hit masterpiece i became birds) adds to this warped menagerie visions of self-immolation in the workplace, born-again drunk drivers with sun bleached decals, a crucified Jesus affixed to the dashboard of a hand-me-down car, and dropping trou while driving past Lon Chaney’s son.
Much will likely be made of the prominence of some gorgeous pedal steels, greasy slide lines, barroom pianos, and wailing harmonica here, but hunting season isn’t really Home-Is-Where-goes-country as much as it’s an embrace and heightening of elements that were always present, making Home Is Where unique as a southern band in a genre that is largely dominated by the musical cues from its midwestern incarnations. The harmonica was there on “long distance conjoined twins” and “the old country,” slide guitars added twang to “lily pad pupils” and “daytona 500,” and the whaler’s closing track “floral organs” certainly makes hunting season sound more like a natural progression than an unexpected left-field record.
That being said, those elements are no doubt cranked up on the hunting season, particularly in the guitarwork of Tilley Komorny. The funky riff that takes out “reptile house” followed by the swampy kickoff of “migration patterns” both bring to my mind a part of the Classic Albums documentary on Damn the Torpedoes when Tom Petty isolates Mike Campbell’s guitar in the mix and says something like “you gotta be southern to play that riff*.” hunting season is packed not only with riffs like that, but just with riffs in general. Komorny seems to be the ideal songwriting partner for MacDonald, adding some complexity and layers without taking away any of the charm of MacDonald’s surreal lyrics and raw-but-strong voice.
(*I can’t find this online, I don’t know if any of this information is correct. Like Fred Madison, I might just be remembering things how I remember them and not necessarily how they happened. I think it was the lick in the chorus of “Here Comes My Girl.”)
“black metal mormon” is a strong example of what makes Home Is Where’s dynamic work so well on hunting season. The acoustic base of the tune and slide guitars push the more country feel of the record, but Komorny’s pull-off-heavy lead acoustic riff would fit nicely alongside most Origami Angel riffs. It’s classic Home Is Where, both instantly enjoyable but also demanding multiple listens to let all the layers and ideas wash over you. Some of those layers fade momentarily to make sure you don’t miss MacDonald musing “I remember when we thought / that it could get better / were we dumb / or were we sweet? / What’s the difference, really?”
“stand-up special” is equally effective with some honky-tonk piano and a real greasy slide riff that seems to circle around the mix under the repetition of “nothing changes as much as nothing stays the same.” Along with “artificial glass,” “bike week” is more of a rocker, although the musical saw taking the song out helps veer us more towards the territory of hazy ballad “everyone won the lotto” and the peaceful front porch feel of “shenandoah” with its gorgeous interplay between the pedal steel and harmonica. Single “milk & diesel” is a triumph for the band, a perfect five-minute microcosm of what they can do, while “mechanical bull” slows things down to a bar-at-last-call feel without losing any of the energy that hums throughout the record. A meditative country tune, it would be a perfect fit to soundtrack the scene in Twin Peaks The Return where the camera holds (and holds . . . and holds) on the bartender sweeping up the Roadhouse floor.
“the wolf man” finds Home Is Where having fun with a fittingly Zevonesque chord progression, while “roll tide” grows from the loneliest guitar on the record yet accompanying wordless vocals, to a trancelike middle section, to a jammy end that meticulously and purposefully unravels, creating an impressive ten-minute epic from a band that broke through with a sub-nineteen-minute album.
Before you really have a chance to process the final moments of “roll tide,” though, an emphatic acoustic strum and drum hit kick off “drive-by mooning,” a tune that is essentially perfect as both an album and live set closer. It has a more direct feel than some of the more intricate moments on hunting season, but that feel is also a bit deceptive as, like on “black metal mormon,” Komorny is using an acoustic to absolutely shred an emo riff overtop the rhythm guitar. The refrain of “I love you / but sometimes / you’re the worst person I’ve ever met” would be the moment of the record if not for the singalong of “Home Is Where forever” hinted at in the underlying melodies of the song that finally comes to fruition in the closing half minute.
In a way, hunting season almost feels like the close of a chapter for Home Is Where—the fulfillment of every spark of potential on the already electric i became birds, and more. And like any close, there’s also a sense of a new beginning and possibility. The record should undoubtedly cement Home Is Where as one of the top bands in emo today (if they weren’t already there) and is one to be cherished, but it also gets you dreaming about what they can do next and makes sure you’ll be tuned in because there are few bands as exciting on each outing as Home Is Where.
Disappointing / Average/ Good / Great / Phenomenal
hunting season is out everywhere today with vinyl available through Wax Bodega.
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Aaron Eisenreich | @slobboyreject
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