Rocky Votolato
Makers
Barsuk Records

Rocky Votolato is the kind of musician who is at his best when he darkens things up a bit. As evidenced by songs like Prison is Private Property, Mixtapes/Cellmates, and Suicide Medicine, the Seattle songwriter is truly at home when there is a hint of pain or longing behind his gentle rasp. His 2003 album Suicide Medicine explored this dark, emotional attachment more heavily than any of his previous albums and as a whole it still stands as his best work to date. It has the upbeat energy that Burning My Travels Clean and the self titled record lacked and the brooding, introspective voice that Votolato’s latest album Makers sorely misses.

Within the first few strums of White Daisy Passing, it is immediately evident that Votolato has improved as a songwriter. Using nothing more than an irregular vocal melody and sparse instrumentation, he crafts a rich and vibrant tale about moments lost and the simple plea for life to “slow it down”. The second track Portland is Leaving picks up where White Daisy Passing leaves off, with a bare guitar and a beatifully sad story about love and trainwrecks. It isn’t here that Votolato’s songwriting voice suffers- in fact these are the best songs he has ever written- it is the handful of tracks that follow where Makers loses its balance.

Track four, She Was Only In It for the Rain, is painful to listen to as a fan of Votolato’s music. The bold choice to push what sounds like a banjo to the foreground of the song is admirable, but it quickly becomes distracting and strangles what little positives the song had going for it. It is too much of a stretch for Votolato and the result doesn’t justify the risk.

The rest of the missteps on the record are made up of songs that, while they aren’t terrible, just aren’t very good. Wait Out the Days, Goldfield, and Makers don’t offer any new insight to Votolato’s writing skills; they are tepid, boring additions to a lopsided album held in place by four phenomenal songs and a plethora of filler.

The biggest reason for this unfortunate mess is the new environment in which Votolato’s songs are born. The raw and underdeveloped production featured on Suicide Medicine has been replaced by a pristine, ‘major label’ sound. Songs like White Diasy Passing and Streetlights thrive under the new production, as they are heavy on melody and contain enough hooks to sustain interest, but the slower, more subtle tracks come off as dull and lukewarm.

We need to hear Votolato scream as he did on the Light & the Sound and Suicide Medicine. We need that pain, longing, and anger that was so effective on his previous record. The laid back approach is just out of place here and it sadly removes the artist from his element. If I could advise the songwriter I would recommend he experiment with more upbeat songs on his next record and include drums. If he can tap into the success of a song like White Daisy Passing more than just 3 or 4 times, he may have an album that finally surpasses Suicide Medicine.

MP3
White Daisy Passing
Portland is Leaving

Website
Rocky Votolato website