Pete Yorn’s fourth album, aptly titled Back and Fourth, is a
series of conundrums.
Conundrum one: It was produced by Rick Rubin and Mike Mogis, and
despite Mogis’ indie-rock influence, Back and Fourth is
definitely Yorn’s most commercial-sounding record. Conundrum two: The
songs are gorgeous, with glistening guitars and Yorn’s voice nearly
cracking with sorrow and strings—but the lyrics, despite their
earnest sadness, are all too often cringe-worthy.
Which brings us to conundrum three: the entirety of “Social
Development Dance.” Its chorus is easily the best hook on the record,
but the song is wrought with those aforementioned cringe-worthy lyrics:
“When we kissed it was electric / chemists made us for each other”; “I
Googled you in quotes got no results”; “You kissed the best / you had
enormous breasts.”
Moments like these are jarring within the context of such dreamy
music. Music like Yorn’s, frought with romance and drama, in the past
has sustained a level of suspended disbelief; if there were jarring
lyrical moments, they weren’t egregious enough for me to remember. But
on Back and Fourth, the escalating, filmic soundscapes all too
suddenly lose altitude. Music like Yorn’s, in order for it to keep its
distance from lesser singer-songwriters’ feeble attempts at lyrical and
musical heights, shouldn’t even have any turbulence.
This article appears in Jul 9-15, 2009.
