Schooner, Hold On Too Tight

reviewed by dave heaton

Perhaps “Proem” – the word used to title the brief “do do do da do do do” intro on Schooner’s new album Hold On Too Tight -- is some archaic word I don’t know, but I like to think of it as a cross between “prom” and “poem”, because in my mind those two words suit their music well.

”Prom” because of the young lust, romance and death themes of many of the songs. (The last lyric on the album is “well baby we might fight and we might die / or hold on too tight to open your lungs.”) But also because of the song forms themselves. There’s the ‘50s-style slow dance of “Pray For You to Die” and “They Always Do,” a shuffle with a similar hazy past-life feeling, if not the same structure. Or the move-your-body pop/rock energy of “I Would Tell You That I’m Stuck” and the similar but more punk rush of “Strange Alibis”. Not that all of these styles fit your average prom theme (‘Under the Sea’ or ‘Wonderful Tonight’ or…what are the kids using for prom themes these days?) – there’s that melancholy but edgy style of dreamy country-rock that they play so well. But something about the word fits. (Better than the Willie Nelson-meets-Smiths quote used in the press releases, though that has some truth to it, too.)

”Poem” because there’s poetry in Reid Johnson’s voice (fairly deep, and rich for it) and the lyrics he sings. Not in a highfalutin’ way, but because they have the hallmarks of the best poems: ambiguity, directness, detail and surprise. Songs that are filled with raw emotion and darkness still end up as enigmas, like the snapshot “Tears in Your Ears”. Others are fantastical, in real-life ways, like “There’s Enough to Do”, with its image of a lovers’ spat leading to apocalypse than to rebuilding. Still others get right to the point – the 38-second “End of Time” has two lines: “In the time that we had I was happy to be your friend / In the time that we had I was happy to be your love.” Evocative words, yet they could be printed on a greeting card or scrawled in the pages of a high school yearbook. Like I said, poem + prom.

{www.fiftyfourfortyorfight.com, www.schoonermusic.com}