I have to admit that I’m somewhat less taken with White’s songwriting now than I was when I was blown over by his first two albums. Nonetheless, they’re interesting still, especially the exquisitely-produced Drill a Hole in that Substrate and Tell Me What You See, which showcases David Byrne’s production aesthetic as well as some interesting guest artists. White’s third album, No Such Place, has been hailed as a masterpiece by critics, and to some extent this is well deserved, although the album has a couple missteps (in my opinion, the female-serial-killer ballad Wound that Never Heals could have stayed in the vaults), although they’re largely redeemed by rockers like Handcuffed to a Fence in Mississippi and Ten Miles to go on a Nine Mile Road. White’s latest, Transnormal Skipperoo, has some good material (notably the haunting ballad Jailbird) but otherwise tends to fall back on cliche.
In any case, here’s the original review from Oct. 2006:
Jim White. The mysterious tale of how I shouted One-eyed Jesus (CD 15116), Drill a hole in that substrate and tell me what you see (CD 15117). White is inevitably described as a “Southern gothic” songwriter, but despite his recurring themes (spiritual crises at midnight by the side of a lonesome highway or abandoned graveyard in the pouring rain, with far off train whistles moaning, etc., etc.) the label is not entirely accurate. Neither White’s musical language nor his lyrics are refined enough to really fit the “southern gothic” label, and this isn’t a bad thing.
It’s easy to hear David Byrne’s attraction to (and influence on) Luaka Bop artist White. His complex, multilayered textures and endlessly allusive lyrics sound somewhat similar to Byrne’s music of the early eighties. White brings to the mix an alt-country sensibility and overarching religious obsession that plays like a bad headache (viz. “Static on the Radio” and “Phone Booth in Heaven” among other songs). Fortunately, White’s universe has room for humor amidst the desolation, as in “Combing my hair in a brand new style” and “What if Jesus Drove a Motor Home” (sample lyric: “If Jesus drove a motor home / I wonder how what’d drive. / Pedal to the metal, / or real slow, checkin’ out the stereo. / Cassette playin’ Bob Dylan, motivation tapes. / Tricked out Winnebago, tie-dyed drapes”).
“Drill a hole in that substrate” is somewhat more accessible and lyrical than “One-eyed Jesus” (and features Mary Gauthier and The Barenaked Ladies as guests); the obsessive listenability of songs like “Static on the Radio,” the elegiac “Bluebird,” and “Borrowed Wings” somehow makes White’s lyrics seem all the more desolate. However, both albums strongly deserve a listen.
