Beck's Modern Guilt is a Promising Bummer

By Jason Hicks

The genre bending musical auteur known simply as Beck has been going through a bit of an identity crisis as of late.  It all started on 2002's Sea Change, which chronicled the break up of a nine year relationship in brutal detail.  Not only was it Beck's most personal album to date, but it also was his most sincere and affecting.  The irony and absurdity that were hallmarks of his previous work were stripped away to reveal a much more mature artist.  It appeared that the appropriately titled Sea Change marked a new era, so it was somewhat bewildering when 2005's Guero appeared, which was essentially a retread of 1996's Grammy winning Album of the Year Odelay.  Somehow when Beck, who was in his mid 30s at the time, tossed out "Na na na" choruses over Beastie Boys samples it didn't seem quite as fresh as his similar songs did a decade ago. 

Things only grew more perplexing when on the Guero tour Beck added a dancer to his live act.  Once known for cutting quite a rug himself and a consummate showman, he now seemed content to let his buddy take care of the stage presence duties so he could focus on increasingly alienating his fan base.  Things got even worse in 2006 when he added a small stage complete with a marionette version of the band that mimed every move of the "real" band.  With all of the distractions on stage serving to take attention away from himself, one had to wonder if Beck's confidence as a performer and more importantly his artistic vision was getting a bit lost in the shuffle.

The good news is that with his recent release, Modern Guilt, Beck is back on the same trajectory he began with Sea Change with a batch of well crafted tunes that are relatively free of winking sarcasm or gimmicks.  The bad news is that it appears Beck is indeed one bummed and confused dude.  With lyrics like "Don't know what I've done but I feel ashamed" and "See a face in the rear view mirror/ Reflecting on the surface of fear"  the themes of the album are just as dark as the title Modern Guilt would suggest.  Beck appears to be in introspection mode for a good portion of the album and it appears that he doesn't like everything he sees.  Unfortunately the world at large doesn't offer much comfort either as elsewhere the lyrics reference melting ice caps, bottomless pits and a government conspiracy theory involving jet vapor trails.  One of the most striking traits of the subject matter is Beck's refusal to hold back anything as he exposes not only his self-doubt, but also the troubled times that we all inhabit. 

Sonically, a theme of '60s pop runs through the record, with a really nice retro analog sound dominating the production.  "Gamma Ray" sounds a bit like an outtake from the Beach Blanket Bingo soundtrack, complete with a surf bass-line, reverb-y guitar and dreamy vocals.  The production duties are shared by Beck himself along with hot shot producer Danger Mouse of Gnarls Barkley fame.  Danger Mouse has been in high demand as of late, working with the likes of Gorillaz, The Rapture, Sparklehorse and The Black Keys all in the space of three years.  Since Beck has been working with A-list producers for virtually his whole career their pairing was a logical match. 

If the goal was to produce an album that harks back to the '60s with a few modern flourishes then the album is undoubtedly a success.  I would love to see a gear list for the recording sessions as I suspect a lot of rare vintage equipment was used because it sounds so authentically old school.  The only tracks that even approach a contemporary sound would be the funky "Youthless" that includes some subtle synth sounds and the drumnbass revival "Replica" which pretty much sounds like an Aphex Twin tribute.  One complaint is that the record does sound claustraphobic at times, with a lot of stuff going on in the mix and not much room for it all to breathe.  Only on the standout "Chemtrails" does Beck achieve the kind of expansiveness that he made seem so effortless on records like Sea Change and even on 2006's mixed bag The Information.  But chalk that up to the brillance of Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich who has produced some of Beck's best sounding work.  That's not to say that the production is poor here, because clearly much thought was put into crafting the sonic pallette of the album.  Having said that, it is hard not to wonder what different choices Godrich would have made with these songs. 

Modern Guilt is a very promising indicator that one of the greatest songwriters of our generation is back on track and still has a unique artistic message to convey.  Yet another throwback aspect to the album is its 33 minute running time harks back to the LP era and is a breath of fresh air in the face of so many filler laden 70 minute albums.  Welcome back Beck, hopefully you can shake off your blues and provide us with more compelling albums like this one for many years.