Great Divide

Semisonic

MCA, 1996

http://www.semisonic.com

REVIEW BY: Jason Warburg

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 03/23/2021

Lost somewhere between the painstakingly crafted power chords of “Closing Time” and the supple keyboard melodies of “Singing In My Sleep” is the fact that, prior to its two biggest singles and the 1998 album they came from (Feeling Strangely Fine), Semisonic had begun life as a playful alt-rock band dominated by crunchy riffs, deep grooves, and abundant energy.

You could argue that Feeling Strangely Fine located the group’s optimum balance point between fire and craft—certainly the mellower All About Chemistry that followed it in 2001 does little to argue otherwise—but there’s plenty to enjoy on the earlier, scratchier, looser manifestation of the group captured on their debut LP Great Divide.

The Minneapolis trio—Dan Wilson (lead vocals, guitars, keys), John Munson (bass, backing vocals, keys) and Jacob Slichter (drums, backing vocals, keys)—attacks the songs found here with tremendous gusto. Leadoff cut “F.N.T.” wastes no time delivering a bruising hook that sits in immediate contrast to its lyric, as Wilson decorates this boisterous, juking tune with words like “fascinating” and “lovely” and “precious.” “If I Run” pulls off a similar contrast, a song about battling anxiety and thoughts of mortality that’s set to a crashing, playful power-trio jam. my_heart_sings_the_harmony_web_ad_alt_250

Lowest-common-denominator pop, this isn’t, which was both blessing and curse in Semisonic’s ’90s heyday. How dare they make intelligent, insightful songs with giddy-fun technicolor guitar hooks?

The run continues with “Delicious,” a rambunctious come-on that rides Slichter’s stuttering-yet-galloping drums, and the album’s too-aptly named first single “Down In Flames,” featuring more heavy riffage, big drums, and a feedback-laden crash-burn-and-fadeout finish. Fittingly, title track “Across The Great Divide” is the song that offers the strongest hints as to the band’s next sonic evolution, an airy mid-tempo rocker that leans more on melody than heaviness, and employs Wilson’s terrific falsetto to accentuate certain lines.

Both energy and quality wane a bit after those first five very strong tunes. High points from there include the sweet soul groove of the otherwise rather nondescript “Temptation,” the complex vocal arrangement on “Falling,” and a pair of tracks held over from their previous Pleasure EP. “The Prize” feels bigger and bolder here, while “Brand New Baby” feels toned down, with less thrash and more melody, less anger and more indifference than on its Pleasure iteration.

Munson takes a lead vocal turn on “In Another Life,” a slumbery tune with a nice retro stacked harmony arrangement, before they close out with “I’ll Feel For You,” a dreamy, glitchy ballad featuring still more Beach Boys-influenced harmonies.

Great Divide showcases a band still finding its sound, bouncing between the heavy riff-rock featured on the front end and the dreamier fare that increasingly dominates the second half. What’s apparent throughout is that Semisonic is almost constitutionally incapable of making boring music. Even when things don’t quite work, in their hands the songs emerge as interesting examples of craft. Great Divide is a flawed yet exuberant burst of creation from a band that was already very good, and still getting better.

Rating: B

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