The Good Life - Help Wanted Nights (Saddle Creek)
2/5
By: Liam Manley
Breaking up is hard to do, as Scott Walker and his fictional brothers once informed us. Making decent art of this, although often attempted, seems to be even harder for some. Tim Kasher of The Good Life is no exception.
The front cover depicts the opening shot from a storyboard, with the view of the exterior of a rundown tavern, the kind most likely to be filled with such self-pitying down-on-their-luck patrons and jukebox with Hank Williams on repeat. And so the cliches begin...
Originally conceived as a soundtrack to a screen play Kasher was working on at the time, you're left with an alt-country album crushed under its penchant for over-used platitudes to love lost, not unlike fellow Saddle-Creek alumni and figurehead Bright Eyes' latest offering, Cassadega.
The only discernable remains of the soundtrack this was intended to be can be found in the final two minutes of ambient/static outro of the final track. Elsewhere, the only indications are given in the wallpaper-like quality of the recordings, as though they're not wanting to attract too much attention
While the first few songs set the scene well, it's hard not to get the feeling that the cast have been left in the trailer along with the dramatic tension and any decent dialogue. Lines such as 'You're a liar and a whore/It makes me want you just a little bit more' live and die by their delivery. And sadly this one's still-born.
Luckily, such casual misogyny doesn't occur too often and Kasher sets about picking through the remains of the relationship as honestly as possible. Unfortunately, in trying to be as universal in subject and delivery he misses the specific, personal details that one can relate to in matters of the heart.
The last minute plea for reconciliation on 'On The Picket Fence' and the Police-esque 'Heartbroke' dig the album out of its trench and give the album a good start, as well as the Shins-esque 'Keely Aimee' melodic pop later on, but the rest just doesn't warrant a second curtain call (or perhaps I'm just confusing my theatre and film metaphors now).
In fact, The Shins would be a fairly good reference, what with their current Zach Braff-assisted status, as you can't help but suspect that the Scrubs star might be eyeing up Kasher's screenplay for an adaptation. Perhaps he'll even get Mischa Barton on board, what with The O.C. no longer a going concern, which is also a shame for The Good Life, because at least half of the songs here would have been a shoe-in to soundtrack one of the countless break-up scenes - you know, the ones where it seems to rain forever and ever?
Looking back at 'Help Wanted Nights', sifting through the detritus, you can see the good times that have happened, but, though certainly not without its charms, you can't help but wonder why you went out with the guy in the first place.
Stream 'Heartbroke' from 'Help Wanted Nights' HERE.
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