Big Thief - Two Hands (Album Review)

 

Big Thief - Two Hands

(2019)


My copy: 2019 press by 4AD.


2019 was a prolific year for Brooklyn’s Big Thief as it marked two full-length releases on major label 4AD. Two Hands came after U.F.O.F. but feels more or less like a companion piece. The music is slow, often gentle folk-rock fusion with occasional distorted flare-ups. While band leader Adrianne Lenker does display discipline and talent for songwriting, much of the intrigue is lost in a lack of sonic creativity. 

“Rock And Sing” is a soft, mournful waltz that marries traumatic lyrics to otherwise regal chord progressions. It is too early to tell if their borrowing from slowcore is actually effective or not, with tempos and styles that hover around those of Carissa’s Wierd or Sonora Pine. “Forgotten Eyes” shows off Lenker’s ability to stick catchy choruses into somber progressions, with her voice carrying more weight when it sounds totally ragged and desperate. Though the precise guitar work of “The Toy” is worth noting, the song itself is quite redundant and sluggish. Fortunately, title track “Two Hands” gives us the only jubilant reprieve on the album, with glittering arpeggios and comforting hand percussion over ever-haunting falsettos. Bird-like guitar chirping solidifies “Two Hands” as one of the better tracks, before “Those Girls” crashes back into paranoia, now mixing in some dissonance and distortion. 

Lenker’s emotional lyrics are reminiscent of Lisa Germano’s Geek The Girl, though Big Thief’s accompanying music does not reach anywhere near the level of catharsis of Germano’s. “Shoulders” is buzzy with some clever riffs, but mostly bores. That aside, “Not” is the most impressive emotional swell of the album, fully embracing repetition until Lenker and her guitar become more and more unhinged, toppling over into a rapidly devolving instrumental break that reflects Lenker’s mental state. The acoustic campfire melodies of “Wolf” are a nice breather following “Not” but the idea goes on for too long and feels self-absorbed. “Replaced” is just another folk-rock jam session of little consequence. Diving further into ghostly harmonies, “Cut My Hair” does well with dark vocals and a few neat rhythmic ideas, but is mostly uninventive. 

One could never accuse Big Thief of being talentless; these are well-thought-out compositions clearly written by practiced hands that show excellent restraint. The issue, then, lies in just how uninteresting the actual sounds of the record are. Traumatic and depressing records like the aforementioned Geek The Girl work because they fluctuate in energy and creativity, with a wide palette of ideas to draw from (samples, varied instruments, multiple genre fusions). While Two Hands is an emotional ride with some impressive highs, the music itself is too dour and gray to stand as truly great.

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