5 out of 5

Label: Jade Tree

Produced by: Casey Rice, Elliot Dicks, Jeremy Doyle, Tim Kinsella

Man, the me of like 17 or 18 who used to rag on Joan of Arc for being the epitome of wiggedy-noodly emo yelpy is so confused right now.  Et tu, Old Me? hr asks, while furtively masturbating to pictures of cows with lipstick scribbled over their udders, which is something he frequently did and continues to probably do to this day only with more tears.

What a groovy guy he was!

But, yeah, sorry to fuss with your bovine masturbatory vibe, but it’s happening: not only is some latter day Joan Of Arc awesome, but this early offering is a miraculous materialization of improv and fascinatingly mangled compositions, slipping into Jade Tree pluckings and topped by Kinsella’s strange and dumb lyrics.  Does this combo result in indulgence elsewhere in JOA’s career?  Absolutely.  But because the group seems to follow an artistic whim as opposed to a strictly musical one…. And when that vibe pauses on inspiration instead of momentum – such as this disc – it’s really a transportational experience.  Tim is a lot less yelpy than remembered here (there’s more talking-singing than attempted singing) and his occasionally eye-rolling proem exposits are kept in check by the flow of the songs, which range from brief crunches of distortion to open-ended electronics, to briefly elated guitar, drum and bass sprinklings.  And while you could argue that JOA’s sound and success is one that helped promote the Polyvinyl / Jade Tree ethos and subsequent followers, the band’s sound, Kinsella aside, can still be picked out from any crowd.  How Memory Works, especially, stands leagues above its peers, crystallized into something far more polished and professional than the reputation I – in my indie arsehole youth – assumed it to have.  I repent with this here review.  FORGIVE ME.