Father John Misty - Pure Comedy

Father John Misty, aka Josh Tillman, since breaking away from Fleet Foxes has become one of Folk's biggest superstars.  Josh's dry sense of humor and bleak outlook on life has made him stand out from the rest of the Indie Folk world ever since his debut under the FJM moniker.  In 2012, he released "Fear Fun".  It was a solid electric folk album, but its real strength was how FILLED with personality it was.  It was also miles better than Tillman's releases under his real name.  Plus, every time I hear that opening riff of "Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings", I get chills.  Now to be honest, listening to "Fear Fun" back in the day, I wasn't 100% sold.  I liked it and all, but I didn't see Father John Misty doing anything to memorable in the future.  However, clearly I was wrong.  In  2015, he released the critically adored and fan loved "I Love You, Honeybear".  It was sweet, it was beautiful, all while sticking with Misty's usual bitter, sarcastic attitude.  It was a really unique experience, and since it's become one of my favorite folk albums ever.  However, since then, FJM has gotten bigger and bigger.  When it came to recording this new album, he revealed there were no love songs on it, which shocked me.  But hearing these new singles and this radical new direction, I'm not completely disappointed.

(Here's a classic for y'all)

This album starts off with its title track, “Pure Comedy”.   Misty’s use of little details have always been so great, so this late night tv show intro, while it’s brief, works really nicely.  As far as vocals go, man Misty’s voice just keeps getting warmer and more comfortable sounding than ever.  Lyrically though, it really doesn’t take too long to realize we’re seriously dealing with a new animal completely from Father John Misty.  Quickly, he dives headfirst into this very bleak look at the current state of mankind.  Father John Misty brings in every strange little detail from Iron Deficiency to Higher Power’s to illustrate the shape of the world we live in, and of course his usual biting sense of humor and sarcasm aren’t far behind.  It has a lot in common actually with the title track from “I Love You Honeybear”, and it just as masterfully brings in the topics and moods of this album.  This track, and the many tracks that follow, is certainly word, and it’s far from “Comedy” (but if it was a comedy, it would probably be Night Court of NewsRadio).  I personally LOVE this intro, no it’s not exactly a fun track to listen to, but it’s an interesting shift of style for Father John Misty.  Plus, I love all of the huge orchestrations behind him.  Of course we’re dealing here with a whole lot of political undertones, but seriously who isn’t using political undertones these days.  At the very least though his style makes it a little bit different.  My only real issue with this, and I know this is going to be an issue a lot of people will have, is just how many listens this is going to take to really digest.  This isn’t nearly as inviting as his past work.  Then we have the last line here, “I hate to say it, but each other is all we’ve got”, which may sum up this entire album and Father John Mist’s entire philosophy.  It’s powerful stuff.  Up next is the much easier to swallow “Total Entertainment Forever”.  Right off the bat we’re dealing with a track that you can enjoy right off the first listen.  It’s a more upbeat tune, with a sound much more remniscient of his older work.  I love the fierceness of this, not to say it’s heavy, but it certainly has such a great attitude to this jam that I love so much.  Not to mention, that opening line about having sex every night with Taylor Swift virtually though an oculus rift is pretty damn memorable.  Father John Misty since he’s started using that moniker has always had so much to say, and here is no different.   Here, he sounds almost a little paranoid of machines and technology, saying it feels like someone is living his life for him.  It also continues to have this seriously grand feel to it within these HUGE instrumentals that surround him.  This to an extent, is going to be a difficult listen for some, as it’s very wordy and that’s not going to change any time soon.  Up next it “Things It Would Have Been Helpful to Know Before the Revolution”.  Now let me just say, there’s a TON of Piano Rock on this album, but thankfully since this is just such a wordy album it feels right at home.  Once again, we’re dealing with heavy political undertones, but if you’re the slightest fan of Father John Misty, that’s not going to be too shocking for you.   There’s also a very theatrical edge to a lot of tunes here, mostly due to the heavy use of orchestral arrangements.  Now, while I stated that a lot of these tunes, including “Things It Would Have Been Helpful to Know Before the Revolution” are going to take some real sitting with to completely understand, these are very deeply culturally important tracks.  Father John Misty brings things up that a lot of us are afraid to even breach, and he delivers these messages in a seriously passionate way, classy too.  These tracks are also going to take a few pauses here and there just for how much Father John Misty crams into these tracks, and that’s not a bad thing.  But it’s something to sit with, and boy is it rewarding.  “Ballad Of The Dying Man”, and in just about every way, this sounds like a tune directly off of “I Love You Honeybear”.  Once again, we see him really concentrating on this Piano Rock vibe, but it really helps you hone in on Father John Misty’s performance.  Lyrically, here he takes us deep into the thoughts of a man on his death bed (as you may have guessed from the title).  Misty certainly does is it with his own unique lair though, as if I was dying I really don’t think I’d be thinking about hipsters and feminists.  However, Misty sounds so passionate on this one.  As much of a bitter, sarcastic man as he’s always been, he seriously sings with much more feeling than you could ever imagine.  Overall he’s become such a personality that it’s overwhelming.  But it’s wonderful to hear.   Not to mention, that last line here may be one of Misty's finest, as he states  "Eventually the dying man takes his final breath, but first check his news feed to see what he's 'bout to miss.  It occurs to him a little late in the game, we leave as clueless as we came”.  “Birdie” however is the first track here that really doesn’t hit me too hard.  I actually think Father John Misty’s performance on this one is really fantastic and just as heartfelt.  But the production on this one is kinda weird and messy, kinda like “True Affection” on the last album.  With “Birdie’ I’m really not too sure about what Father John Misty was really going for.  I feel like the sort of Radiohead “Kid A” production really doesn’t fit well stylistically.  There are just enough sweet moments here and there to make this one passable, but overall this one barely sticks with me.  But that honestly brings me to my first issue here.  This album is great, but it’s going to take a LOT of sitting, pondering, and 100% to truly enjoy this.

Up next is the 13 minute monolithic folk epic that is “Leaving LA”.  This starts off as one of the most stripped back tracks we’ve heard here so far, and to be honest it really makes you focus on Misty more than usual.  I mean, with a run time of over 13 minutes you can already realize that this one is going to get a little rambly.  However, while it does, one thing it doesn’t get is boring.  It actually makes for some of Father John Misty’s most interesting statements here as well his most puzzling.  Instrumentally, it’s certainly pleasing and very sweet, and it gets even more stunning as the track rolls on and on.  “Leaving LA” overall, is really good.  I dunno if it 100# justifies its length completely, but this really brings up what I’ve already stated about this entire album.  “Pure Comedy” is fantastic, but it’s not nearly as instantly gratifying as some of Father John Misty’s early work.  So if this is your first rodeo with him, this is going to give you mixed results.  But, if you’re familiar with him and his character, this is going to be all gravy for you ladies and gentlemen.    “A Bigger Paper Bag” right off the bat sounds like a much more structured, straight up folk rock song.  I just can’t seem to get over just how much I love these backing instrumentations.  Father John Misty has always had such a way with words, and the opening lines on this one are some of his most shining here.  His lyrics are often puzzling and often demand for you to literally be reading the lyrics while listening.  But it’s certainly worth it, because his performance here is just as stunning and beautiful and as mysterious as the album cover here.  And just like the album cover, most of the time things certainly SOUND ok, but when you dive deeper boy is it ever a facade.   Up next is one of my favorite tracks here, “When the God of Love Returns There’ll Be Hell to Pay”.  These piano ballads continue to seriously strike me so hard.  This album is obviously one very long look at the human race.  It’s not usually a very happy journey, as here Father John Misty goes deep into the thought of the God Of Love returning to earth to say "Jesus you didn't leave a whole lot for me, If this isn't hell already, then tell me what the hell is”, only for us humans to respond with “It’s just human nature”.   Also throughout this album, Father John Misty goes back and forth between judging humans as well as playing the roll of defendant as well, trying to come up with some answers for us, usually in his own sarcastic way.  It’s a long journey with him on this album, but if you’re familiar with him and his nature, you’ll love all of this.  “Smoochie” is up next, and honestly, this is a down point for me here.  This one doesn’t even sound like Father John Misty, hell it kinda sounds like a crappy Shins song.  It’s just a little too bouncy and dreaming for my liking.  And it’s a shame because lyrically this one is completely about Father John Misty, with is something we really haven’t heard much of yet.  But this one is just so off from the rest of the album.  There isn’t a memorable hook in sight, and more than anything this just comes off as a crappy b-side from “I Love You Honeybear”.  There are certainly some sweet moments here and there which certainly have been missing from the album, but everything else about “Smoochie” is out of place in the worst way.  But Father John Misty bounces back very quickly with his hugest statement yet, on “Two Wildly Different Perspectives”.  Now, as far as a true statement that’s going to last from this album, this is really the big one.  Instrumentally, this is stripped back and simple, but lyrically this dives deep into the radically different way people look at situations.  Specifically on this one, Father John Misty looks at the the opposing sides of political situations and movements.  This honestly is just a track to seriously make you take a step back and think about the world we live in, and what we’re doing to it by constantly going at war with each other.  There are some awesome Jazzy instrumentals to back this one u as well, and to be honest overall this one just comes off so straightforward and simple to comprehend.  It’s fantastic in every way.

“The Memo” is up next, and this one i just a straight up, nothing fancy folk jam.  filled with more fantastic one liners bleeding with sarcasm.  But this one isn’t nearly as ear catching or as interesting as some of the other tracks here.  Lyrically, yea this is just as sharp and it certainly sticks with the themes of everything else that’s been going on.  Instrumentally though, things do pick up quickly, and I’m glad they did, it certainly makes things much easier to swallow.  Lyrically though, this is certainly getting a whole lot harder to follow.  I’m not sure which side of the Father John Misty spectrum I’m more of a fan of, but this is from from bad now that things have picked up instrumentally.  Plus, some of the weirder moments towards the end of this one are actually really bizarre, but they work so well with the feel of the album.  So yea, I’m certainly down with it.  My only issue still remains that you seriously need to sit with this album from start to finish with a stiff drink or a few cups of coffee.  As the album goes on however, I’m really never too sure what I’m going to hear next.  Which is why “So I’m Growing Old on Magic Mountain” standing at a whopping 9 minutes is just so fantastic.  Here, Father John Misty goes back to his “I Love You Honeybear” days by illustrating himself as this sort of of rock star party boy.  But this is much more than that, no this seems like a mission statement for this entire album.  This whole thought of a “Magic Mountain” where no one gets old and everybody parties works with every theme on this album practically. This one, while it’s long and just as wordy as other tracks, goes deep into vices and the things people do to forget what’s really going on in the world.  And not once does it get boring.  When you look at this album as a whole, this was a really hard album to make work for Father John Misty.  When you look at the subject matter of this entire album, and the length of it, you have to realize just how easily this could have been bloated and quite frankly full of itself.  Which leads us to our finale, the very stripped back “In Twenty Years or So”.    While I haven’t really been bored throughout this album, I do have to say “Pure Album” didn’t HAVE to be so long.  This is a nice finale though, it certainly fits a whole lot of the rest of the album’s themes.  Here, Father John Misty is going off on his usual ramblings, but my goodness are these instrumentals ever heavenly, dare I say hopeful.   But then, just in time for me to say that this sounds hopeful, Misty returns from this instrumental passage to more or less walk us through the apocalypse.  But it turns out really beautifully to be honest, mostly because the focus really isn’t on Misty here, but these orchestrations.  Well done old friend.  

Rating : 8.4/10

Give A Listen To: “Pure Comedy”, “Total Entertainment Forever”, "A Bigger Paper Bag", "When the God of Love Returns There'll Be Hell to Pay"

Overall Thoughts:  Let me just start by saying, if this is you're first time sitting down with Father John Misty, I would seriously recommend going back and listening to his first two albums first.  "Pure Comedy" is massive, and far from funny in any right.  No, here, in 13 overwhelmingly beautiful folk songs, Father John Misty breaks down everything twisted about the current state of the human race.  Starting with current political issues, and ending with of course, our demise.  It's wordy, it's bitter, it's sometimes hilarious and sometimes depressing, but it's most of all seriously thought provoking.  Father John Misty since the release of his last album has proven to be the guy willing to bring up cultural points that we wouldn't think twice about, and he brings them all to the table here.  One other thing, if you have an hour and change to spend on an album, listen to this from start to finish, it'll hit you a whole lot harder then taking a song here and a song there for a spin.