After giving us one of the best albums of 2008 (For Emma, Forever Ago) Bon Iver’s 4-track follow-up, Blood Bank was bound to fall short.
He’s honest, I’ll give him that.
The EP begins with Blood Bank, an excellent track that would have fit nicely on For Emma. The familiar strumming and resonance mixes well with the narrative delivered with his usual mix of charm and vocal range. I’m sure it has found its way onto a number of road-mixes, including some I’ve already made myself.
The second track, Beach Baby, is again set to the characteristic strumming of Vernon’s guitar and the damn near tear-jerking soulful voice that carried us all away on For Emma. The song begins to wrap up about 1:40 in with some guitar work that’s as sad and gorgeous as his voice. Unfortunately, the song is very short. Regrettably, this is where the album should have ended.
Babys, the third track, feels like a nightmare inspired by a track from George Winston’s Forest album. I’m a fan of George Winston, but not when I feel like he could have stimulated this. The piano on this track is relentless in its repetitiveness, like a spoiled six year old hell bent on torturing his parents. The short reprieve we get from the clanging about half way through makes its reemergence 40 some seconds later that much more brutal.
The final track, Woods, seems like the accidental recording of someone who wanted to try out some new pedal effects. Repeating the same uninspired stanza throughout the track took me back to the third song, which I can’t bear to mention again.
All this said, I am still looking forward to Bon Iver’s sold out September 19th show in Omaha at the Slowdown. More so, I’m very much looking forward to a solid second album from Bon Iver. I hope it happens soon.