Morrissey, maestro of misery, returns in fitting form in "Years of Refusal." Known as the godfather of the current emo scene, bands like Fall Out Boy, Say Anything and Brand New could learn a few things from his latest record. Beginning with "Something is Squeezing my Skull," Morrissey achieves in under three minutes what Alkaline Trio has been trying to do for 13 years.
Morrissey is not content with being considered to be in the twilight of his career. Lyrics about tension, anxiety, and alienation from society are met with self-deprecating lyrics, causing Morrissey to think about how far he has come and why he is still doing what he does.
"I know by now you think I should have straightened myself out," Morrissey muses before saying, "Thank you. Drop dead." He then rattles off a bunch of mood-changing drugs, including "Diazapam, Valium, Tarmazpam, Lithium, HRT, [and] ECT." These signature injections of humor do Morrissey well.
His is a band firing on all cylinders. On "Years of Refusal," rest assured, Morrissey's lyrical dexterity remains intact. Morrissey digs his teeth in deep to the subject matter, not letting go without a quip or reflection. In many cases, this is a look back on a very long career, which began with the Smiths. The self-aggrandizing and self-deprecating complex many bands have developed owe it to Morrissey, who works that complex to full effect on this album. He goes from longing ("Black Cloud") to forlorn love ("I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris") to boasting ("All You Need Is Me") and finally to acquiescence ("I'm Okay By Myself"). If anything, Morrissey is talented at portraying many shades of yearning, with all of the push and pull involved in the process.
Morrissey's band experiments with different forms of music on "Refusal." On "When I Last Spoke To Carol," there are hints of a mariachi-type Spanish influence, while the distortion-ridden "Something is Squeezing my Skull" and "Black Cloud" are the closest Morrissey has recently gotten to upbeat rock. There is still Morrissey's signature crooning, heard most poignantly in "You Were Good In Your Time," a reflection on death and life's end, complete with an "end-of-the-ride sigh."
Even full-band fills in the album sound like microscopic jam sessions, with "All You Need Is Me" being the prime example; it was also featured on a greatest hits album released last year.
The album owes much to the late Jerry Finn's production, which makes Morrissey's band seem to be in love with playing music again. This is not the same slow, plodding band in "Ringleaders of the Tormentors," and the arrangements are more accentuated than in "You Are The Quarry." Morrissey is no longer front and center, but he does not seem to mind.
Though the album was written, recorded, and mixed before Finn's untimely death, it makes Morrissey's songs about death that much more transcendent. There was no way to know that "One Day Goodbye Will be Farewell," a warning for couples to appreciate their partners, could be applied to Finn's situation as well.
Be the first to comment on this article!