Neko Case - "Hell-On"

Neko Case is an absolute legend in the field of Country and Alternative Country.  I honestly got my first exposure to her music through her work in New Pornographers.  But she's got enough gems in her solo discography than misses.  Her 1997 debut "Virginian" is an immediately accessible and likable Country album.  Back then, I loved the spunky performances we often got from Neko, like on tracks like "Karoline".  But we also got plenty of tracks like "Jettison" which were fantastic ballads, as well as tracks like "Timber" which summed up everything I loved about the more Alternative side of Country.  If you've had issues in the past with getting into Country, absolutely give this a listen.  Neko returned in 2000 with "Furnace Room Lullaby", and came with a fiery new sound, no pun intended.  The performances on this album were fantastic and epic, and this is easily one of Neko's most ambitious efforts.  From ballads like "We've Never Met" to "Porchlight", the strangely jazzy "No Need to Cry", to the raucous "Whip The Blankets" and "Mood To Burn Bridges", this album had a little bit of everything. By the time Neko released 2002's "Blacklisted", her sound was down to a science.  There were dreamy ballads like "Look For Me (I'll Be Around" and stripped down rockers like "Things That Scare Me".  And honestly, a whole lot of this was right where I wanted to hear Neko.  Not to mention,  she was just such a fresh face for her genre.  Neko returned in 2008 with "Fox Confessor Brings the Flood", an album that honestly I feel like is her weakest.  This album was so much more stripped down and rustic, but it came off so sleepy and not interesting at all.  The only tracks that did interest me were some of the more Vintage-Pop tunes, like "Lion's Jaw" and "That Teenage Feeling". Thankfully, Neko bounced back with 2009's "Middle Cyclone" in a big way.  This album may just be Neko's most emotional and powerful to date, with intense tracks like "I'm An Animal" and rockers like "People Got A Lotta Nerve".  Here, it just seemed like Neko was on cruise control in the absolute best way.  She had already mastered these sounds, but this was a combination of them all in this very beautiful and lush combination of it all.  Also, I really couldn't get enough of Neko's very poetic lyrics here, like on tracks like "Magpie to the Morning" and "Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth".  Neko's very solid career rolled on with 2013's "The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You". And like her last album, Neko really seemed to be on cruise control here.  There were unbelievable ballads like "Night Still Comes" and "Calling Cards", but with tracks like "Man" Neko proved she could still rock with the best of them.  Now, personally, I still wasn't really into some of the more stripped-down tracks like "Nearly Midnight, Honolulu".  But Neko at the end of the day still seemed far ahead of the track as far as Alt-Country was going.  Neko's back with her first album in 5 years.  And ironically, these may just be her most ambitious and forward-thinking tracks in ages.  Let's chat.

(A personal favorite of mine!)

This album starts off with it’s title track “Hell-On”, and right off the bat it’s a bizarre start for Neko.  It’s obviously a Neko Case track at heart with just how Country it is deep down.  But it’s got this thick veil over it, and it’s got a very experimental vibe to that’s just so obviously good.  It’s bizarre and weird, but Neko comes off as such a great performer here.  This is easily one of her most haunting performances of her entire catalogue.  And it eventually opens up pretty nicely into a pretty standard sounding Neko Case track.  The last few albums of hers have come off as sort of a victory lap for Neko.  But this track is just so ballsy and experimental, not to mention I love her spunky attitude in some of the later moments.  This is a flooring intro, and shows just how much Neko really has left in the tank.  On the other hand, “Last Lion of Albion is much more up front and much less “weird”, and sounds like it would have landed nicely on one of Neko’s early albums.  The riff is punchy, and her always stunning vocals sound more incredible than ever.  It’s got a big anthemic chorus and a positive, forward-thinking sound.  That’s right fans, at the end of the day, this is Neko at her finest.  The fact that it’s just been so long since we’ve heard from Neko, and for her to come back with tracks like this which are some of her best, it’s pretty telling to how important she is to her genre.  On the other hand, “Halls of Sarah” is a stripped down Folk ballad, and it actually sounds really rustic and warm.  Talk about range, after all of these years Neko still has tons of it.  It’s beautiful and emotional, but still has some really interesting little details.  Take for example that really sultry saxophone and hypnotic backing vocals that are just doing so much for her sound.  While this remains a Neko Case album at heart, tracks like “Halls of Sarah” continue to show this legend branching out.  Not to mention, when it opens up into this much bigger, epic track towards the end I would say it just gets even better.  The gigantic instrumentals, Neko’s passionate yells of “SARAH!”, this track is absolutely nuts.  On the other hand, “Bad Luck” is probably the most straightforward Neko Case rocker here.  Some of the imagery here is fantastic, and the attitude on this one is right where it should be.  Let me tell you, after all of these years Neko Case has tons of spunk.  But I do have to say, this track does seem a little out of place.  So far, this album has been a complete branching out for Neko.  Filled with some of her most experimental and genuinely interesting tracks I’ve heard in years.  But this just seems like something she would have recorded years ago.  Now, it’s still a good tune and it sticks with you.  But “Bad Luck” does stick out a little, thankfully it doesn’t ruin it.

Now, by this point in the album it’s become obvious that this is Neko’s most experimental and bold album.  But the 7-minute “Curse of the I-5 Corridor” is something I really didn’t expect to hear.  And I expected even less for this to be a duet with grizzled Rock veteran Mark Lanegan.  And I’ll be honest, it’s a very bold move and all, but I’m not nearly as into it.  I’m always down for a slower tune from Neko, and I think the pair have some actual chemistry.  But I’m just not that into this tracks progressive style.  The first few minutes I’m sitting around waiting for something to happen, and when things pick up it just seems a little rushed.  And these hushed verses just could have been so much cooler.  In moments like this, I just feel like this would have been better simplified.  On the other hand, “Gumball Blue” is much slower, and almost comes off bluesy.  It has these very whimsical synths, and even Neko’s performance here is much gloomier.  But I have to give her credit, her vocals sound just as pure and sweet as ever.  I love how mysterious this one is, for a Neko Case album you really never know what you’re going to hear next.  Now, this one interestingly enough features her New Pornographers counterpart John Collins.  And in a lot of ways, this does come off like a New Pornographers track, especially from their “Brill Bruisers” days.  It’s not a terrible track, and I can’t help but get caught up in the hypnotizing riffs.  Then we have “Dirty Diamond” which has this unbelievable warmth to it.  This one sounds like one of her classic recordings, but brought more up to date with flashier production and some more risks taken.  And to be honest, it’s one of my favorite tracks here.  I love the sense of mystery here.  It seems so spontaneous, like Neko doesn’t know what she’s going to do next, so how are we supposed to?  And guess what?  It’s exciting.  It’s rustic and warm, but it’s also just so vast and comes across as adventurous as Neko wanted it to.  It’s beautiful, incredibly satisfying, and sounds exactly where Neko should be in 2018.  Once again, this is a very breezy and dreamy track, and it’s really inviting.  But man, this one is personal on a new level for Neko.  She’s always occasionally brought up these feelings of being sort of a tomboy.  But never this level, and it’s really just so powerful alongside these booming vocals.  And it just gets so intense and emotional with lines like "Sometimes I feel so ugly, I'm afraid, Worry nesting in my hair.  Shedding like a Christmas tree, Surely there's a real woman coming to erase me”.  That, alongside this incredibly epic, immense instrumental makes this one an absolute standout of the album.  I’ve never heard Neko this intense, and it’s pretty stunning.

This album rolls on with “Winnie”, a much more stripped down track that’s not as epic.  And sadly, it’s not nearly as strong either.  This one is just so broken down sounding, which after just how immense that last track was is really a let down.  Like, I have to give it to Neko for remaining at this level of just how personal she is.  Hell, you can argue that this album is her most personal to date.  But I feel like everything else about this track just sort of sticks out.  This has been an album of immense adventuring for Neko.  But this sounds like a b-side from any of her early albums, but not one of her better ones.  “Sleep All Summer” continues with this albums collaborations, this time alongside Eric Bachmann.  But once again, sadly I’m really not that into it.  The vocals all around are solid,, and the two do have chemistry.  But I just feel like the quality and intensity of this track is a far cry from some of the early tracks here.  I do have to give it to the two though, they end up pulling through with a very heartfelt ballad.  I just personally wish this one matched the grandiose feel of other tracks.  Some of these later tracks, while on the surface sound pretty straightforward, still have a lot of quirks to it that continue to make this a very adventurous album for Neko.  I love the guitar effects on “My Uncle’s Navy”, it almost comes off like a sort of 80’s rock tune.  But it’s an awesomely vast sound for Neko.  She just sounds so passionate and determined, and I love just how murky and genuinely surreal some of the lyrics are here.  But man, did Neko ever save her strangest track for last.  “Pitch or Honey” finishes off this album, and there’s certainly a fair amount of mystery to this.  But overall, I’m really not that into this one as much.  The production on this track is just way too distracting.  And while Neko’s performance is beautiful and all, there’s nothing about this track that reels me in.  It’s not until two and a half minutes in when this track translates into a ore straightforward track does Neko win me over.  It’s moments like this finale that make me sort of wish for a more straightforward sound.  But one things for sure, this is far from the most on-the-rails album in Neko’s discography.

Rating: 7.7/10

Give A Listen To: “Last Lion of Albion”, “Halls of Sarah”, "Dirty Diamond", "Oracle of the Maritime"

Least Favorite Track: "Winnie"

Genre: Alternative Country / Alternative Rock

Overall Thoughts:  This is easily the most grandiose and most adventurous album that Neko Case has ever touched.  Never has she ever sounded so forward thinking and fearless.  It leads to a handful of some of her most shockingly epic and incredibly personal tracks to date.  But while there are a handful of tracks on here that are improved by this massively, there are a few tracks on here where things get a little too out there.  Not to mention, sadly I'm not nearly as into some of the collaborations on here.  Outside of that, this is still one of Neko's most adventurous and urgent albums to date.