Pete Yorn – Back and Fourth

Pete Yorn has spent more than a few years of his musical career living in the expansive shadow of his major-label debut, musicforthemorningafter. He’s taken turns fading in and out of the spotlight like the specter of the once-familiar pop he emboldens. His music is uncomplicated and, in one sense, that element alone should allow for a loyal fanbase eager for a good time. His persona is that of the unshaven, slightly annoying guy we all knew at college parties; the one who just happens to have a guitar with him and just happens to know all the songs that makes the slightly sluttish girls giggle and swoon. But he’s also got a relaxed easily likeable demeanor and, dammit, his songs might tilt toward the corny more often than the sincere, but they feel good. And they sound exactly like what should come out of a man who looks like he does.

Yorn can never be accused of not being honest, in fact, sometimes he’s a bit too honest. On Back and Fourth when he mumbles a line or two in “Social Development Dance” about a girl who “kissed the best” and has “enormous breasts” whom he later “Googled…in quotes” but got “no results,” it’s a moment that brushes embarrassingly red against a regular color palette. I can’t say I appreciate that sort of unchecked lyrical content, but I can say that it doesn’t ruin the album. It is, however, just one example of a handful of poorly wrought moments on his fourth full-length release.

Yorn’s songwriting was never his strength but that was apparent on his debut. After all, this is the same man who sang, “pots and pans are indestructible, how do you respect your room?” on morningafter’s “June.” True to form there are other misaligned lyrics on Back and Fourth, but addressing them would be a bit like kicking sand into the ocean; nothing will come of it that affects the vastness of what Yorn seems to be striving for. He has no pretensions that a pop song is the salve we need for our lives and, for the most part, one can sense that he’s only interested in making music he would enjoy.

To that end, “Paradise Cove” is a brilliant piece of melancholia wrapped up in Yorn’s strained vocals and an utterly repeatable chorus. “Last Summer” opens up with a chiming, reverb-soaked 8-note guitar riff that pushes The Byrds through a mesh filter and as Yorn sings “we were not each others’ truth” it makes the summer in the song’s title feel like the last summer on earth. Similar tunes like “Thinking of You” that utilize various guitar textures on top of Yorn’s brightly flavored acoustic guitar have more staying power and “Shotgun” is as close to a signature Yorn sound as can be (if such a thing exists) with the “hey baby” lyrical opening and the muddy two-string riff that he does so well.

Still, other numbers where Yorn plays outside the lines fall flatter than the Midwest during winter. His attempts to incorporate mandolin on lead single, “Don’t Wanna Cry” and “Country” mostly sound contrived, like Yorn was only interested in trying a new instrument out in the studio. And when Yorn goes for melodrama on the final two numbers, “Four Years” and “Long Time Nothing New” it’s like watching a high-school production of Death of a Salesman where no one in the production is self-aware enough to understand the gravity of the scenario. Best leave it to the Arcade Fire to deal with that immensity, please.

As an addendum, it’s worth noting that Pete Yorn shows up midway through the Austin City Limits: Guided by Voices DVD. He is clearly a bit drunk but in sheer awe of being onstage with such veterans of rock. Bob Pollard seems pleased to introduce him, but also seems a tad perturbed when Yorn overstays his welcome onstage. If anything, Pollard is not one to share the spotlight for too long with anyone, but he also understands that you can’t give in to the masses’ expectations and you have to make yourself feel good about what you do and make. Yorn is struggling with that hard-line, it seems and Back and Fourth finds him in only a slightly better a position than before. He may have a long way to go before throwing in the towel, but, in the meantime, he should butter his bread with the thing he does best: writing thick pop songs for anyone who wants to listen and have a good time.

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