- Jon Cloumassis may well be aged beyond his years. The frontman of Brisbane indie outfit Cedarsmoke has a voice that sounds like it’s been strained through a life-long forty-pack-a-day habit, sure, but more than that, it’s what he rasps about, which gives me that impression. Song titles alone, - ****ed Up, Here Alone, Gone Awry- just bleed world-weariness and hey, their third EP in four years 'rejoices' in the melancholy moniker, Kicked Out Of Eden. This kind of dejection is often embraced by the most emotionally underdeveloped of songwriters, though, and that has nothing to do with the worn-down wistfulness you’ll hear here. Jon sounds like the oldest of souls, someone who’s seen it all and who doesn’t have the energy for teenage angst, he is -to borrow another song title from the EP- Waiting To Die.
Let’s bottle up the chronic depression for a second and take another listen to that voice. It’s undeniably the signature element of Cedarsmoke. The obvious touchstone, especially for a band so influenced by the guitar-rock of the ‘90s, is the ruined glory of J.Mascis. The more I listen though the more I hear other things: a touch of Joe Strummer in its higher inflections or even Rancid’s Tim Armstrong. It may just be I’m comparing it to every gravelly voice I know? At least I haven't suggested Darren Lockyer yet. Moreover I really like what I’m hearing and it works as a very effective counterweight to the band’s sweeter tendencies. This is nowhere more evident than on that opening cut, Waiting To Die. It’s the closest Cedarsmoke ever come to pure indie-pop and the ludicrous happiness of the glockenspiel is very much in need of Cloumassis gritting out lines like “Out of novocaine / Life’s just putting up with pain / And if it all goes down the drain / I’ll be happy just waiting to die.” Or perhaps it’s the other way round: Elliott Smith levels of sadness in need of a sugary pick-me-up? Whichever it is, it's an uneasy but compelling meeting of brutality and beauty.
Usually the band aren’t so sweet, but they do take a pretty informed approach to indie-rock. Again I find myself reaching for the encyclopedia of indie-art-rock-alt-country-americana bands. Elements of Pavement, Wilco, Lambchop and a million more besides echo in the proceedings here.
It’s strange, for a band so clearly aware of their influences and capable of employing them lucidly and intelligently, they’re still addicted to one very particular, bittersweet mood. Jon Cloumassis’ erudite lyricism makes him sound like the smartest guy in the room, so smart that no-one can talk him out of his depression. At EP length it’s not really a problem, but at album length it would be nice to find some different emotional colours.
Cedarsmoke are not a bunch of crusty forty-year-olds but in the best way -if there is such a thing- Kicked Out Of Eden makes them sound like it. Old before their time, it must alienate the youth music market a bit and yet they don’t have the staunch following of a hoary old alt-country band. I’m sure Cedarsmoke would say they never expected anything better and just keep on doing what they do. Few others may hear this band, but you should go out of your way to be among them.
- Chris Cobcroft.