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Written by Jeremy Goldmeier Tuesday, 01 August 2006 04:46

The lyrics seem to reflect Jones' somewhat turbulent past, with song narrators who discover their lives turned "upside down," admit they've "cracked up again," or find themselves panting to elude personal demons.

 

Two tracks into their debut album, Evangelicals provide a valuable public service announcement: "You're only dreaming, you're only dreaming..." Yes, "dreamy" and "dream-like" get tossed around a lot in the halls of rock criticism, but here's one of those records that seems purposefully constructed to skirt lucidity and disorient listeners as much as the pop idiom will allow. To keep folks guessing, guitarist/songwriter Josh Jones compulsively chucks u-turns into his compositions. "Goin Down," for instance, lives up to its name, blasting off with a rush of sugary keyboards, until the engines suddenly fail and the song plummets earthward with a hazy acoustic comedown.

While the manic pop side of Evangelicals gets the most press-as it gives critics free license to namedrop fellow Okies the Flaming Lips-a surprising proportion of So Gone skews toward the ethereal. "My Headache" is a sighing slow-burner, replete with a stately horn section and cherubic backing vocals. Elsewhere, "Into the Woods" is a complete stranger to the other songs on the album, yet illustrates that the band might have missed its boat as an IDM outfit.

The lyrics seem to reflect Jones' somewhat turbulent past, with song narrators who discover their lives turned "upside down," admit they've "cracked up again," or find themselves panting to elude personal demons. It's easy to overanalyze the words that rock singers often scribble onto notepads without much conscious thought, but when Jones wails, "I need some help!" on "What an Actress Does Best," one has to wonder if he's not merely adopting a desperate persona.

Despite its many successful grabs at offbeat accessibility, this remains a strange little album that will require a few replays to sink in. Like any good dream-or peyote trip-its insights only come with time and examination. That might not be something that indie pop fans necessarily want, but perhaps it's something to which they could grow more accustomed.