The problem with villains is not that every good story needs one, but with just how much time and honesty to the story that the writers telling it will allow them. Simply put: everyone wants a great villain that they can root against, and everyone hopes that they’ll lose and disappear by the third act, leaving room for the heroes to hug it out in a moment of overflowing passion.
The writers who put these stories together are suckers for the public’s affection. They easily comply, giving no second thought to the character, evil or kind, that they birthed. But what happens to the villains once the main story ends, and why aren’t they ever allowed to share some of the things that they’re filled with love for? That’s a story that The Setting Son dares to ask on this 13-year-in-the-making album, “Cul-De-Sac.”
Don’t let the title of the record fool you. The band’s been interested in cool, evil rock n’ roll for a long time. And, for a while, judging by the songs on the previous release “Before I Eat My Eyes and Ears,” the musicians were content to imagine themselves going off in a blaze like every good villain should.
But what’s wrong with a villain getting soulful? The record’s title track and opener has fuzzed-out guitar that buzzes like angry flies, but the beautiful, 60s-pop-inspired melodies prop up the visions of someone who knows that every end is bound to come calling and dreams that were not the case.
“Spinning Around” rings out almost like a jingle-jangle Tom Petty song recorded with the hope that it would be played during the Summers in the gas stations planted chaotically across the highway.
And if these are villains, surely, they’ve worked for the other side as well. Few modern bands have a better hold on that retro-rock, Summer-of-Love sound as The Setting Son does here. “I Still Can’t Decide What I Want” plays with Phil Spector-sized wall of sound production tricks. The riffs to “Absolution” chime like wedding bells inside some ancient pop jingle fantasy. And, “Going South” is the travelogue, a dash for freedom song that an album like this needs. Pay special attention to the delightful backing vocals.
It is at this precise point that an attentive listener would start asking questions of the story they’ve been told. Can villains have so much soul, and work those Sunny melodies so lovingly? If these are bad guys, give us more of them.
Where does this leave us? Trying to get the stories out, unmangled by censorship of any kind. Final track, “Sleep (Dedicated to Heinzz)” echoes psych-pop luminaries like The Doors, is the record’s most accomplished piece and feels like a tune to distract you from forgetting about stopping the album from playing on a loop. You’re best leaving that dial alone.
The Setting Son is telling its story and allowing for no distractions. Shaded by the influence of ’60s music, the band created one of the most convincing retro-rock albums in recent memory with “Cul-De-Sac.”
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