What about Christmas?
The Jigsaw Seen celebrates the art of pop and ‘Winterland’
By Bliss 12/01/2011
Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, the annual flood of snowman- and mistletoe-themed holiday releases is glutting the marketplace — some worthy of repeated spins, many if not most destined to be forgotten before New Year’s. Easing into the holiday season with a concept album exploring various facets of winter, including, inevitably, Christmas, is the Jigsaw Seen’s “Winterland,” just issued on Vibro-phonic.
Don’t expect “Frosty the Snowman” or even somber George Winston-style “Winter” meditations. As “Candy Cane” spells out, this is anything but a merry affirmation: “The grim reaper of Yuletide cheer is back.”
Recorded in a couple of dozen sessions between December and May, the album opens with a pounding remake of the critically lauded foursome’s “What About Christmas?” that owes a debt to Phil Spector. “What about Christmas? What about you and me/ What about the way you look when I look at you/ And no one sees/ Sitting here in the middle of May alone …”
But if frontman/keyboardist Dennis Davison, guitarist Jonathan Lea, bassist Tom Currier and drummer Teddy Freese were weaned on Spector’s legendary “A Christmas Gift for You,” they checked the joy at the door. Lyrically, that is. “Woman Loves the Season” salutes a luck-starved’s believer’s “empty-pocket pride” (“Joy is in the giving/ For she who never had/ Life is for the living/ Glad tidings for the sad”), while “Christmas Behind Me” presents itself as a modern kind of survival tale (“I could have stayed in Winterland/ And not have sprung for sea and sand/ A life half lived would not be worth retrieving”). Collectively, the songs on “Winterland” present a quizzical, decidedly nontraditional perspective on what is the most traditional yet most commercialized of holidays. A harmonious cover of Gordon Lightfoot’s “Circle of Steel” nestles comfortably at the center of the set, with its evocations of gin tipplers and rats running ’round welfare kids at Christmastime.
Musically, “Winterland” is a sweet feast of reverberating sonic treats that prompts return visits to the play button. The instrumental “December” haunts with its almost medieval-sounding strains of acoustic guitar and wind effects; it is the quietest of the 10 tracks. The band has been justly celebrated for a keen understanding of classic pop construction and performance, and that melodic architecture and harmonic sophistication not only undergird “Winterland,” they make it a welcome left-field seasonal surprise.
The Jigsaw Seen celebrate “Winterland” with a headlining show at Silverlake Lounge, 2906 Sunset Blvd., in Silver Lake, 9 p.m. Thursday; $8. Also on the bill: Allen Clapp and His Orchestra, Them Howlin’ Bones. Info: (323) 663-9636. Thejigsawseen.com
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That's a photo by Jes Andrade. Where is the photo credit? Http://jesandrade.com