Pitchfork Rebuttal #1: Molina and Johnson

Molina and Johnson

by Molina and Johnson

2009

Secretly Canadian

Pitchfork gave this guy a 5.1.  For those who don't know, this is a collaboration between Jason Molina (Songs:Ohia, Magnolia Electric Co) and Will Johnson (Centro-matic, South San Gabriel).  According to legend, it was cut during a 10 day session at Molina's house.  I'm much more familiar with Molina, who has a long indie history that has shown up on the radar more frequently than Johnson's material.  I have heard the 2008 double LP of Centro-matic and SSG, I guess twice, and it was quite good.  Something that I would like to delve deeper into.

So, there's the backdrop.  Call it a stripped down supergroup, if you will, since those are all the rage.  So, what's wrong with Pitchfork's review?  They paint this album as a dark 'funereal' experience, drab in the middle, and altogether unexciting.  That is certainly a believable picture, if you listened to this thing in a vacuum.  But what I want to ask them is, what the hell did you expect?  If you'd have handed this to me, told me who it was, and asked me what I thought it would sound like before you let me listen...I'd say, 'A 50 minute poem about how sad life is, and how it's never going to get any better'.  That's what these guys were born to do...somber, introspective music.  Sure, Molina could have brought more guitars, a la 'Magnolia Electric Co', versus the more downbeat alter ego 'Songs:Ohia' sound, but I fully expected this album to be sad out of the box.  And it is...it is.

I listened to this album yesterday, as the remnants of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Ida pummeled us with rain.  I was in the drive thru at Zaxby's.  My shirt was soaked from running through a parking lot 3 minutes earlier, and I was cold.  Basically, everything about that moment kind of sucked.  Tinkling in the background was a piano/guitar effort on this album; don't even remember the exact track.  It was perfect.  I'm guessing that Stephen M. Deusner, who wrote that Pitchfork review, just didn't have a cloudy day to share this album with.  I'm a sad album guy, especially when it's a sad album day.  You certainly wouldn't throw this on as a backdrop for Wii night, with your 6 most fun friends.  If you hold it against a standard that it can't stand up to, this album is a failure, as would anything that is nuanced like this is.  Imagine your worst day.  Now imagine the soundtrack that would sum that up.  That's this album.

I'd rate it out pretty strongly.  In fact, I'm prepared to give this one, say a 7.8.  I'm not going to burn down any buildings if it's not on the All Time Lists in 10 years, and I doubt that was anything near what the two guys set out to make.  Seems to me like they just wanted to share some pain through music together, and by that measure, they succeeded to their maximum ability.  I'll certainly listen to it again, and this definitely endears me more to these two's respective solo endeavors. 

Ron's Pitchfork Rebuttal Score (RPRS): 7.8
Pitchfork's Score: 5.1

Pitchfork Douche Score (RPRS minus Pitchfork Score): 3.7