Sun Kil Moon - This Is My Dinner

Sun Kil Moon ladies and gentlemen, one of the more polarizing acts in Indie Folk right now.  You know these guys by now, they're lead by Mark Kozelek of Red House Painters, they've been around since the early 2000's.  They made their debut in 2003 with "Ghosts of the Great Highway", which is actually one of my favorite Sun Kil Moon projects. This is Mark Kozelek before he got into his super long-winded storytelling mode, and features him at his most easy to read at points.  There are some great Folk Rock elements, and a ton of Alternative vibes as well in the grungy guitars.  Not to mention, there are just a ton of really catchy, well-written tracks here.  The next time we heard from Mark and company was with 2005's "Tiny Cities", a collection of Modest Mouse covers.  And yes, a LOT of people have a ton of issues with this album.  I mean, these are tough songs for anyone to cover of any genre.  But Mark does OK with them, sure they're not incredible and are obviously missing something without Isaac Brock singing them. But this isn't terrible.  But Mark got back on track in a big way with 2008's "April".  This was a collection of songs much in the style of their "Ghosts..." album.  But Mark and company began to stretch these song lengths out over 9 and 10 minutes, and these tracks often became super meditative.  While some of the Alternative Rock elements they began their career with had sort of fizzled out, I really couldn't say no to tracks like "Heron Blue", which may just be my favorite Sun Kil Moon album. But it was around this time that I sort of lost interest for a little while with Sun Kil Moon.  Their next album "Admiral Fell Promises" was average at best.  I just felt like this much more Acoustic approach was OK and all, but I felt like Mark could do better.  Which he did slightly do with 2012's "Among The Leaves".  Like, this was a slightly better album, with tracks like "Elaine" and "That Bird Has a Broken Wing" really standing out.  But once again, I felt like Mark was really holding back a bit.  But with 2014's "Benji", Mark and company really mastered their more stripped down sound.  This was a deeply personal, crushing album that was absolutely too real at times.  Mark went deep into his family life, past loves, and thoughts on death.  And yes, it's a lot to take in and it's a long album.  But my God, it's a modern Folk masterpiece.  But with everything good about "Benji", 2015's "Universal Themes" is the exact opposite.  This album is a bore, with so many tracks dragging on forever.  What was great about "Benji" was just how much it was like catching up with an old friend.  "Universal Themes" was like sitting through an awful lecture.  But tracks like "Little Rascals" and "With a Sort Of Grace I Walked To The Bathroom To Cry" were actually very well done.  But overall, no thank you man, no thank you.  Ughhhh, but then there is 2017's gargantuan "Common as Light and Love Are Red Valleys of Blood".  And I'm not gonna lie, it has its moments.  I actually do really like some of the instrumentals and the return to form from their early work.  But this album is OVER 2 HOURS of Mark Kozelek going on and on about nothing.  Sometimes, it makes for some really interesting tracks like "Philadelphia Cop".  But other times I was literally forcing myself to stay awake.   Mark and company are back, and outside of a 1-minute long Partridge Family cover, Mark hasn't graced us with singles.  Let's chat.

This album starts off with “This Is Not Possible”, and this is actually a really cool intro.  I love the Jazzy, airy feel to this track.  Even Mark, who doesn’t shift up his style at all, sounds a little looser here.  Now, let’s talk about the rest of this one.  This is a lengthy track, as most Sun Kil Moon tracks are.  It’s more or less a long list of Scenarios that Mark has dealt with while traveling, mostly in restaurants and hotels.  And for the most part, it’s actually really interesting, mostly to hear the contrast between different places and their hospitality.  Now, how true these scenarios are is up to date, because we all know Mark can be a little difficult.  Not to mention, this track has some genuinely quirky and funny stories, like the decaffeinated coffee bit.  And yea, it’s lengthy and if you’re new to Mark’s style this is still a lot to take in.  But for someone who has sat through quite a bit of it, this is great.  Not to mention this is one of the more structured tracks in his recent output.  Between all of that, and Mark’s eventual dive into his musical taste as a young man and breaking the 4th wall, this is all gravy.  “This Is My Dinner” is a little less Jazzy and instrumentally sound.  And in its place, we get this very breezy, warm For sound.   And it’s honestly really great, and almost reminds me of like some American Football.  But Mark continues to sound totally refreshed and not lost at all.  Obviously, his style is a little rambling, and if you’re not interested in his stories you may want to leave while you’re ahead.  But here Mark goes into some interesting topics like adultery in his youth and being with someone who was in a relationship.  But this one does really start to hop around a little bit more, but one thing remains the same, Mark’s focus on traveling.  This is the first time in a while that Mark has stayed constant with themes, but it really does mix things up just enough.  Mark keeps it really fresh, going back and forth between his thoughts on performing overseas to him missing his cat when away on tour.  And honestly, it ends up getting really emotional, and obviously tragic when his Cat passes away.  But “This Is My Dinner” eventually does get into some thoughts on his fans and all, as well as his attachment to certain places he’s been to.  Now, some of the stuff here between Mark and a heckler at his show is a little much and is definitely Mark at his most Kozelek.  But still, this is great.  With “Linda Blair” though, Mark does start to lose me a little.  In moments like this, how the hell am I supposed to focus on Mark with this instrumental?  Even without Mark’s vocals, it’s just annoying.  Once again we have Mark talking about traveling.  But oh my lord Mark, this whole Linda Blair bit is practically goofy.   I just find this one so much harder to follow.  Mark’s thoughts here come off just as fragmented as this genuinely annoying instrumental.  With Mark’s style of music, some tangents and side stories aren’t just expected, they’re welcomed.  But here, Mark just sounds genuinely unfocused, as he hops from traveling to performing to Mike fucking Tyson.  All the while these twinkling guitars just flutter over everything and make things hard to swallow.  But by the end, this track goes all sorts of hellish.  Instrumentally, this is intense and heavy, with Mark once again at his most Kozelek, blasting Steely Dan and The Eagles.  Honestly, I would much rather just hear Mark go down a list of more bands he hates.  But “Copenhagen” makes for a really interesting change of pace.  This one is almost a continuation of this album’s intro, as Mark goes into a lot of the same scenarios, and talks about how favorite hotel has them all taken care of.  But this instrumental is so much more intense, and Mark’s much more strained performance here adds a ton to it.  Even that whole scenarios with the woman and her husband seem reminiscent of what we heard earlier of that story of Mark’s younger days.  It’s actually really interesting.  I mean, this isn’t the most ridiculous track of the bunch or the most interesting.  But hey, I’m not nearly as bored as I have been with Mark recently.  

Now, “Candles’ on the other hand brings back the very breezy and graceful sounds we got earlier, and I love it.  Once again we have Mark going deep into his traveling days.  But it continues to be really fresh to hear him this focused.  We have some really heartbreaking moments here, like this one between Mark and the late Elliot Smith, which is absolutely tragic.  And yea, there are a few cringe-worthy bars here, like when he’s going off on people who eat Deer meat and tells them to eat a Moose instead.   Mark, you are really something else buddy.  But the very breezy, sweet atmosphere of this one is such a nice change of ace.  Mark also really goes back a LOT to life on the road, mostly dealing with stress on the road.  It’s really an interesting topic, and it’s not something people chat about too much.  And then we have the very intense passage about candles, and about Mark’s Dad warning him about candles.  Which of course, leads to the fact that Mark accidentally burned down his apartment at one point, nobody said these were happy songs.  These are lai fully real at times, but if you know Mark this isn’t new.  Now, “David Cassidy” once again makes for a really interesting turn.  This one is, as you can imagine, a tribute to the late David Cassidy.  And by the looks of it, Mark had a real fondness of David.  This one goes deep into David’s life and why Mark finds him so interesting.  And honestly, it ends up coming off really heartfelt and leads to some of Mark’s most intense performances of the bunch.  Even though this is one of the shortest and most direct tracks of the bunch, I have nothing bad to say.  And then this album begins to start taking a massive nosedive, first with a cover of “Come On Get Happy”.  And yes, this is only a cover, but am I the only one who thinks this is terrible?  Like, this is just as awkward as the worst moments on that Modest Mouse cover album from years ago.  It’s just not very good, at all.  This isn’t Mark’s style and ends up just being weird.  And I thought I would have some nicer thoughts about “Rock ‘N’ Roll Singer” since Mark has always spoken so highly of AC/DC.   But his very quiet, mellow performance of this classic by them is an absolute bore.  He sounds like he’s having a damn seizure over this much less exciting instrumental.  Like, there are some notes here where I literally can’t help but laugh, as terrible as that is.  Mark should just know better. 

At the very least, “Soap for Joyful Hands” has a sound that Sun Kil Moon sound comfy with.  I love just how incredibly dreary and moody this one comes off.  But I just feel like this album has actually taken a real downturn.  Mark for a while was coming off so human and legitimately different than what we’ve been hearing from him in the last few years, and that’s a welcome change.  This track just reminds me of everything I’ve hated about the last two albums.  But Mark does end this album off on a halfway decent note with “Chapter 87 of He”.  The very breezy instrumentals are a really nice touch, and Mark sounds very comfy within this atmosphere.  This one goes off on everything from cigarettes to advertising and actually has Mark sounding pretty great.  Not to mention, this one has a really great Jam quality to it.  Like, I have hearing Mark ramble on about nothing, especially in the studio.  But this comes off genuinely in-the-moment and has a great live quality to it.  That, alongside one of the more animated instrumentals here, comes off really cool.  My only real issue is that I sort of wish this track was as focused as some of the earlier tracks here.

Rating: 6.9/10

Give A Listen To: “This Is Not Possible”, “This Is My Dinner”, “Candles”, “David Cassidy”

Least Favorite Track: “Rock ‘N’ Roll Singer”

Genre: Folk / Spoken Word / Folk Rock

Overall Thoughts:  This is by no means a perfect Sun Kil Moon album, and if you’re new to Mark’s music under this name this isn’t where you should start.  But this is a semi-interesting new chapter for Mark and company.  As a matter of fact, the entire first half of this album is really solid, with Mark going deep into stories about traveling all over the world, all to the tune of some very interesting and tasteful instrumentals.  But two incredibly awkward covers and a few unfocused final tunes later and this one derails pretty quickly.