3 out of 5

Label: P.W. Elverum & Sun, Ltd.

Produced by: ?

This is an interesting puzzle of a D+ album. The stretch from post-Beat Happening pop sketches into the energized desperation of a post-9/11 album resulted in snapping back to a pretty indulgently simple-minded release, and my least favorite D+ album – Deception Pass. What would follow?

Bret Lunsford, who I consider the guiding force of D+, is – by accounts I read; by the way he runs his label, Kmw-Yr-Own – a pretty upbeat guy, but obviously likes to encourage a DIY, music-finds-a-way ethos. So it’s not that Pass was cheerful, but it was like an apologetic poet trying to force a rhyme after spitting (relative) vitriol over some truly life-changing events. No Mystery, like a lot of D+, does ask that you give it some time past an initial listen, but even moreso than other releases, as its intentions and are unclear. Although its theme – to question what’s around you; to question meaning; and that there’s meaning in that very questioning – are not. There’s a coil of logic contained in the lyrics of the title track: there’s no mystery inside Pandora’s Box. Lunsford (and his bandmates Karl Blau and Phil Elverum) are trying to be okay with the way things are, but also aren’t trying to ignore the way things are, which was the role of Deception Pass. (…Perhaps a more self-aware title than I realized?)

However, the reason I question the “intentions” is because the album never quite finds a rhythm, both musically and lyrically. Bret’s wordplay finds the right balance here between his usual playfulness of word-swapping and being overly precious about it – again, he nigh-literally questions, does this wordplay matter? – while songs later, the group is praising the opportunity to ask these questions. And it’s all under this veil of religiosity – the cover is a picture of an apple – which I can’t quite puzzle out either, as I hadn’t pegged these folks as religious, and some of the songs seem rather critical of the practice, but I think it’s more being critical of the limiting nature of some religions, when their power should / could be in giving us comfort in letting life’s mysteries be mysteries. On the music front, this translates to a couple bops and a couple rockers, but nothing that is able to really pierce the veil of being a memorable single, or having one of those Lunsford / Elverum choruses that just kind of haunts you, or gets stuck in your brain. The music flows pretty seamlessly from one song to another – another rarity for D+!

This obliqueness does make No Mystery one of my lesser listened-to D+ discs, but I do find it a very valuable stepping stone into the more accessibly emotional What Is Doubt For? and beyond, and a good listen for exactly those times when, like, I just don’t know how I feel about something either, and I need a soundtrack that is okay sitting with me on that wavelength.