John Noah - Water Hymns

  by Malcolm Carter

published: 14 / 6 / 2003

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This is the third album from Wisconsin’s Noah John following on from 1999’s ‘Tadpoles’ and ‘Had A Burning’ from 2001. The music the 5 piece band make has been described in some quarters as ‘Gothic Americana’ and it pretty well sums up the sound produced on ‘Water Hymns’. Any band that use a saw as a main instrument are going to alienate themselves from the usual batch of Americana/alt country acts like Lambchop and Giant Sand though. The third track on this album, ‘Saw Right’ is 50 seconds of a saw being played and, while it is an eerie and different sound, I’m mystified as to why it is there. It is placed between two of the best songs on ‘Water Hymns’, ‘Rabbit Is Asleep’ and ‘Two Members’ and it just interrupts the flow of the album. I’m all for bands trying something different and the saw works when it is used along with other instruments in some of the other songs, but a saw solo? No thanks. I can’t help but feel that it was included for a shock effect-to prove that Noah John are different. Well, they don’t need tricks like that to prove the point. Although the album is made up of 13 different songs, there is a mood running through all the tracks, and those 50 seconds disrupt that mood unnecessarily. The highlight of the album is undoubtedly ‘First Communion’. It’s the story of a young man who is seduced by an older woman. It has shades of the Velvet Underground in the vocals and instrumentation. There is some stunning guitar and cello which all add to the atmosphere of this tale of small town adultery. Carl Johns who composed all of the 13 tracks here with the exception of ‘Saw Right’ has a real talent for tapping into small town life. The song ‘ Ballad Of William Roy’, is a sad lament about the life of Cousin William who “left his wife a widow at 23, stranded all alone with no way to get back home” after drowning. Johns is no slouch at composing a memorable tune either. From the breezy melody on ‘First Communion’ to the morose sounds he creates on ‘And The Lord’ it all works. Even without John’s excellent storytelling there is still a lot to be found in the instrumentals on ‘Water Hymns, ’ namely ‘Shy Bladder’ which is an ethereal soundscape and quite breathtaking and is only spoilt by the following track, ‘On East Whistlin’, which is another short interlude this time of unaccompanied whistlings. The closing track is another instrumental, ‘Rabbit Reprise,’ an all too short slice of a summer day lounging about in a hammock until the shade of some trees. Or the soundtrack of enjoying a drink on the back porch. This is an album that requires and deserves repeated listens before it reveals all its beauty. It’s an acquired taste, no doubt about that, but fans of Lambchop who want a little extra "weirdness" with their alt country will find much to enjoy in the songs on ‘Water Hymns’. It’s just a shame that those two short bizarre tracks are there to interrupt the strange beauty of ‘Water Hymns’. Repeated listens still confirm to me that they do not have the impact I feel was intended by including them.

Track Listing:-

1 They Will Call
2 Rabbit Is Asleep
3 Saw Right
4 Two Members
5 First Communion
6 And The Lord
7 Faerie Wings
8 Promise Breakers
9 Shy Bladder
10 On East Whistlin'
11 Ballad Of William Roy
12 Personal Best
13 Rabbit Reprise

Label Links:-

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http://www.last.fm/user/Loose_Music
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