{"id":2939,"date":"2019-12-07T08:00:14","date_gmt":"2019-12-07T16:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/?p=2939"},"modified":"2019-12-30T21:57:26","modified_gmt":"2019-12-31T05:57:26","slug":"albums-of-the-teens-i-guess-tearing-down-walls-in-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/2019\/12\/albums-of-the-teens-i-guess-tearing-down-walls-in-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"“Albums of the … Teens, I guess?”: Tearing down walls in 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Timothy Monger at The Ark, Ann Arbor, Mich., Feb. 8, 2017. [Photo by Doug Coombe, via timothymonger.com<\/a>.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A lot of people were talking about building walls in 2017, but the musicians I was listening to that year were all about breaking down barriers: deconstructing genres, combining genres, giving new life to tired genres, imbuing old songs with new meaning and, in some cases, directly questioning those who would divide us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amber Lantern, <\/em>Timothy Monger<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Released: Feb. 10, 2017<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The largely unrecognized tragedy of the 2010s was that there was no more Great Lakes Myth Society<\/a>, the Michigan folk-rock band that, in a just universe, would be universally recognized as one of the GOATs. The consolation is that one-third of GLMS’s songwriting powerhouse released two excellent solo albums in the last 10 years: “The New Britton Sound<\/a>” in 2011 and the current subject matter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While I am currently unable to find any such link, I have a vivid memory of an interview in which Monger described Amber Lantern<\/em> as “deconstructed folk music.” And I thought to myself, “What the heck does that mean?” And then I listened to the album and, immediately, it made sense. To wit: Is it mandolins and hurdy-gurdies that make something “folk,” or something deeper? Clearly, it’s the latter, and Monger proves it by building a survey of folk traditions on a base of throbbing synths and vocal harmonies. For folks who … <\/strong>welcome a frank musical discussion of depression and social anxiety. Throughout Amber Lantern’s <\/em>10 tracks, Monger paints a portrait of a narrator whose friends are leaving him behind, who is only comfortable on stage, who only sees shades of grey. Moment that gets me every time: <\/strong>“With black bra straps and cigarettes \/ credit cards and student debts \/ I’m dying just to make one of them mine \/ I’m tired of feeling shitty all the time.” If you listen to just one song: <\/strong>“Grey’s End,” the hopeful finale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n