When The Going Gets Dark

Quasi are Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss, an (ex)-husband-and-wife team who have been delivering a steady stream of albums since the mid-90s, always taking care to lace their sweet organ-driven alt-pop with darkly humorous, acidic lyrical poison. They may be the musical equivalent of Father Ted’s outwardly-blissful, secretly-psychotic “odd couple” John and Mary, so at odds are their sound and their words.
Coomes has always had a way with a sugary, addictive melody – he’s a more accomplished songwriter than, for instance, the more-celebrated (and sadly departed) Elliot Smith – for whom Quasi used to act as a backing band. These days, he has taken to coating his tunes in layers of chaotic noise – but, unfortunately, not in the thrilling Kevin Shields/Kurt Cobain type of way. This is noise as signified, not as signifier – with no purpose other than its own existence, rather than as a device to bring a song’s melody into sharper focus.
But, while When The Going Gets Dark would have benefited from a cleaner production, there are still a number of very fine moments that emerge unscathed from the barrage of hammered piano and squealing guitar.
The opener ‘Alice The Goon’ feels underwhelming at first, but check the way Weiss and Coomes’ gorgeous harmonies peer out from beneath the din, rescuing the track from mediocrity. The title track is also saved by a terrific, falsetto-laden chorus – devastatingly melancholic, no matter how deeply buried its charms are.
‘Beyond The Sky’ is a tantalising glimpse of the album that might have been – a richly detailed ballad, with producer David Fridmann’s signature all over it. Indeed, its sombre piano and crackling atmosphere call to mind the instrumental tracks on Mercury Rev’s Deserter’s Songs.
Another enjoyable Quasi album, then, but not the triumph we might have expected. Their dark heart remains intact, but they require a greater lightness of touch.