Home

Item: XIV
Author: Earl Campbell

XIV

(2000)

Reviewed by Earl Campbell

Discogs Apple Music TIDAL Amazon Music Spotify YouTube Music

Label Arena Rock RecordingsBandoppler2000

indie rock psychedelic rock

Experimenting with nuances of 60's psychedelic and folk and 70's new wave, and attaching them to an unstable nucleus of 90's underground art-pop/indie-rock since 1992, Home recently released their first pseudo-major LP after years of working on an eclectically legendary 4-track cassette series, 1-8, and the subsequent underground productions of IX, X, and XI. Home XIV is surely the cumulative product of their creativity-intensive years in obscurity, and stands as both epic and nonchalant. Definitely an album for the Modest Mouse/Built to Spill/Apples in Stereo crowd, and DEFINITELY NOT derivative, possibly even quite patriarchal.

The first, and shorter of the two "Aguirre" instrumentals prologues the album and bleeds into the bouncy "Burden" spiritual, a song that floats atop hay stack cymbal work and grassroots harmonies. "So Much Love" takes a turn into traditional acoustic indie-rock, but possesses enough soul to elevate it beyond the mundane. "Truly Judy" rewrites the rules for distortion grounded pop-hooks, and instigates Beatlesy imagery while focusing on strong progressions, and shockingly quirky bridges. Frankly, amazing songwriting. "Contract" wreaks havoc on a jazz-bar bass-line, making it somehow soothing and completely uncomfortable at the same time. The transition from this skin-crawling track to the showtune piano and classically sparkling triangle melody in "Childrens Suite" is in itself a brilliant compositional maneuver, a trend continued when the song itself digresses into a warm body of lucid voice.

The rest of the album continues in this vein, never allowing itself to be stuck in ego-imposed melodic mire, each track with as much individuality and personality as the one before, but always kept within a carefully crafted rhythm. "The Fable of Salty Water" stands out on the disc, which is saying a lot, and reeks of sea-faring jangle, permeating such strong imagery that disorientation upon its close is assured. Overall, this is what I would confidently call a modern rock masterpiece, experimentation and roots fused tightly with contemporary songwriting expertise. Easily perching comfortably above their solemn ilk.