Ed Volker’s prolific post-Radiators run of new songs and recordings continues with the recent release of Look Glass Trick. The new album features eleven new tunes and a new level of production expertise for his series of self-made albums. It’s available here.
Look Glass Trick also features two songs, which may be familiar to longtime Fishheads. “This Old House” was a fan favorite back in the 1980s. It’s back here and is sure to cause flashbacks for those who remember those heady days in smoky bar rooms.
The other old song, “Right As Rain,” did not ring a loud bell in the ears of this old-time fishhead, but rather a whispered one. One of the lines rings true for wistful fans who remember following the band and for those who gather in New Orleans for their annual reunion shows, “Frisco to New York, we burned it on down, now all that’s left is that lonesome sound.”
Though written back in the day, it was prophetic. The rest of the songs are new and mine similar territory as his other recent releases. With the rigors of the road fading into the past, Volker’s songs focus on mortality, the metaphysical, and lost love amid hints of politics.
Though he plays and records all of the parts himself, this collection seems to my ears to be a step forward in production technique.
Fishheads will hear the other musicians’ parts clearly, particularly in the way he approaches the bass lines, played as a separate keyboard part, and the percussion.
In my book, I Got the Fish in the Head: A Radiators Retrospective, I mused that in a perfect world we would have gotten a new collection of Volker songs every year for the 33 years the band was together—belatedly I am getting my wish.
