Although Portland, Oregon is a bastion of musical inventiveness, housing more bands than the city knows what to do with, the other Portland doesn’ t have quite the creative reputation as its West Coast counterpart (authors – maybe, musicians – eh, not so much). However, former resident Timothy Cushing is trying to change this perception with his charming easy-listening Americana tunes that are ripe regardless of your musical preference.
With his latest LP, appropriately titled Telephone Lines, Cushing reflects life outside the urban sprawl where all you see is miles and miles of open terrain with only a never-ending asphalt path and a seemingly endless supply of t-shaped telephone poles interrupting nature’s beauty. No doubt relatable to everyone living from The Appalachians to the Southwestern mesas (certainly my West Texan buddies are included in this bunch), Cushing is able to channel the care-free nature of small-town America and provide a soundtrack to all those relaxed afternoons on the porch with nothing to do except to shoot the breeze and watch the cars slowly go by one-by-one.
When listening to Cushing, you can’t help but make comparisons with some of his predecessors and contemporaries. Popular choices seem to be the oddball musician Daniel Johnson and the reclusive Neutral Milk Hotel vocalist Jeff Mangum, however, I seem to find more of an Owen Ashworth (from Casiotone for the Painfully Alone) vibe to his music. Although noticeably more upbeat and less electronic, Cushing has the same restrained vocal control and storytelling lyrics that Ashworth seems to possess – most exemplified by the first half of the song “Heather”. It’s almost like Ashworth took some anti-depressents, read a shit load of Kerouac, and decided to form a folk band. Still, even though the comparisons are abundant, none quite hit exactly on the mark as Cushing possesses that unique voice and unfair amount of talent that so many singer-songwriters would kill to have.
No doubt the strongest tracks on Telephone Lines are the two bookends. Cushing opens strong with “Dandelion Wine” – the best song on the album in my opinion — with an On the Road feel reminiscent of Bright Eyes’ “Another Travelin’ Song”. With “Dandelion Wine”s cheerful up-tempo and bouncy guitar line, you can’t help but want to hop into your hypothetical 67’ Chevy pick-up truck and drive somewhere, anywhere, just to get away from it all. Not to be outdone is the closer “Waiting for a Change” which oscillates between introspective and downtrodden to upbeat and exhilarating, serving as an appropriate microcosm of the entire album.
No doubt the haters will complain about how two-dimensional the record is and how there aren’t really any boundaries being pushed on any of the ten tracks, but there is something to be said about a record that you can put on anytime, anywhere, knowing that you can simply sit back, relax, and enjoy. And that’s exactly what Telephone Lines is: the La-Z-Boy of music.
Tags: mp3, Telephone Lines, Timothy Cushing
[...] if listened to continuously, the album makes for a perfect Sunday afternoon pick-me-up (not unlike Timothy Cushing’s album). Not to imply that easy-listening equates to boring — there are plenty of tracks like [...]