Slim Cessna’s Auto Club – Unentitled

How do you follow-up an epic, genre-defining, career-peaking masterpiece?  Well, if you asked gothic country masterminds Slim Cessna’s Auto Club, I’d reckon their answer would be that you don’t.  Instead you just go about business as usual and keep pumping out the same uniquely creative tunes that initially put you on the map.  Or at least that has been the Denver, Colorado sextet’s answer to their captivating 2009 milestone, Cipher.  Seldom can a band release a follow-up and sound so effortlessly unphased by expectations as with the comparatively straight-forward, Unentitled.

While Cipher was a huge, structurally complex beast of a concept album, Unentitled can be tackled to on a track-by-track basis without sacrificing the former’s ambition.  In fact, in an odd way Unentitledmight actually be the rag-tag group’s most accessible work to date.  But don’t let that be confused with a slide in musicianship, because everything is just as tight as ever – the whole outing full of colourful characters, spellbinding narratives, and one of a kind atmosphere.  In fact, in a round about way their newfound accessibility heightens their trademark juxtaposition of sound and intent.

Imagine playing all the wrong chords but still maintaining rhythmic patterns and conventional appeal – that’s the beauty of Unentitled, it’s so foreign yet so inviting.  Drawing heavily from a heritage informed by Americana and dark gospel, every track plays host to bastardized tales built on a bed of apocalyptic religious imagery.  The content stays close to frontman Slim Cessna’s view of The Church as he engages in lively exchanges with his sidekick and co-vocalist Munley.

Starting with the banjo-heavy, finger-snapping tale of warning in “Three Bloodhounds Two Shepherds One Fila Brasileiro,” guilt, punishment, and repentance arch across all nine tracks.  Those lending an ear stand privy to the twisted descriptions of bloodhounds sent in the name of justice (“the mouth full of canine is wrapped around your ankle like the iron you’re supposed to wear”).  “The Unballed Ballad Of The New Folksinger” takes an oddly upbeat, even energizing, combination of traditional organ and acoustics featuring the cultishly deep voiced choral chant “gather ‘round” in developing the almost gypsy-like character of a championed performer (perhaps an eccentric nomadic preacher?).

The first two songs could fit on most SCAC records, but what lies ahead is entirely the realm of Unentitled.  “Thy Will Be Done” opens with an eerie theramin-like electric wave and a banjo that sounds like it belongs in the Hindi world or The Stromberg Fair.  Throughout the album the atmosphere varies from threatening to complacent, with the creepiest instances always lyrically juxtaposed to the accompanying clamour.  While in fact “Thy Will Be Done” merely praises an ancient fruit-bearing tree in an orchard, the song sounds like a cultish ritual.  Other times, like in “Do You Know Thee Enemy?” the band sound ready to dance despite serving as a menacing warning.  And in another case, “A Smashing Indictment Of Character” lays claim to one of the album’s catchiest sing along choruses (“If I do not fall” is repeated with all the fire of a southern gospel choir) despite a gloomy account as told by a recently deceased narrator.

While Unentitled’s content always reaches lofty highs, the band saves the best for “Hallelujah Anyway.”  The lengthy five minute track records the happenings surrounding a backwoods marriage between an unlikely suitor and the daughter of a twisted preacher – Munley and Slim playing each respective role.  The account starts with an exchange between Mr. Beerbohm and the groom to be, the father surrendering to the reality that this former sinner of a suitor may be his last chance to give away his daughter in his small town (“I’m old and dried, but my daughter’s clean, Son, are catching what I mean?  I need a male to carry on my name, upon your seed I lay my claim”).  But the suitor’s reluctance and a humane concern quick reveals itself in his sincere response “but Mr. Beerbohm the doctors say that with your daughter no man can lay.  If a child passes from your daughter’s legs, then she’ll pass too, and to the end of her days.  Mr. Beerbohm what’s with that grin?” to which he replies with a wicked selfish revelation “son your lord works in mysterious ways, but in the end someone’s got to pay!”  Against the shadowy backdrop the traditional “hallelujah” chorus the story progresses towards the eventual marriage ceremony, featuring a speech by Mr. Beerbohm so unnerving it must be heard for full effect.  This track alone demonstrates that when it comes to Slim Cessna’s Auto Club, increased accessibility doesn’t equate to decreased ambition.

As with any review of Slim Cessna’s Auto Club, anything shy of quoting each chorus and verse verbatim doesn’t do the one-of-a-kind act justice.  By this point Slim and Munley have practically written the book on gothic country, and with Unentitled remain in a class unto themselves.  Having previously made good on their immense potential, Unentitled sends a clear message to fans that life after Cipher will continue as nothing short of spectacular.