seeds.

Childish Gambino | ROYALTY | Album Review





Independence Day was commemorated in more than one way by comedian/writer/actor/rapper extraordinaire Donald Glover. With the release of his new mixtape, ROYALTY, Glover’s rap alter ego, Childish Gambino, celebrates an independence from his light-hearted jokester roots. ROYALTY declares a new Gambino that fans better digest quickly, lest they be left in his swag-laden wake.



The resulting release is short on tongue-in-cheek literary references but packed to the gills with guest lyricists, producers, and hard-edged, often hook-less material. Gambino is eager to demonstrate that hip hop is something he could pursue as a life path, should he so choose. Often derided for his choice of lyrical focus, Gambino keeps his audience at a distance, going as far as asking them abruptly, to turn off his records and/or shut the hell up. 



Gambino has solid rap chops — his verses often provide the oasis on a track full of lesser guests — but that doesn’t prevent him from suffering from building an entire track off of a weak premise (and to be frank, an awful rhyme scheme/central message to a track) in “Unnecessary.” It is not entirely clear where Gambino is headed by frivolously repeating the various unnecessary facets of being a comedian/rapper/television star, giving way to a frustrating level of aimless material. The track provides a deep valley for the record and is far below par for what is expected of Glover’s wit. 



Continuing with that theme, on preceding track “Black Faces” Gambino would like to insist “[he] and Nipsey [Hussle] [are] on some grown [up] shit” but really they simply come across as a couple of hungry kids playing hip hop. Glover has always been sensitive to what comes across his @mentions feed on twitter. Undoubtedly, it is this level of self-awareness and neuroticism that makes Glover who he is; both sensitive and nerdy while simultaneously acting overblown and braggadocios. In fact this theme is a rather common vein in modern hip hop. However, if Glover aspires to be like Jay-Z, ?uestlove or any of the other icons he references, Gambino needs to find a better middle ground. Act like you’ve been there before, man. 


A benefit the mixtape format offers Glover is to work out his various kinks (emotional or otherwise.) Many of these tracks would benefit from a singular vision, like the one prevalent throughout previous release CAMP, but not everything on ROYALTY belongs under this umbrella, allowing Glover to cut his teeth deeper into his rap aspirations. The best example of this is the almost scene-stealing potential of what I assume was intended to be the cornerstone of ROYALTY… but unfortunately for inexperienced producer-hat wearing Gambino, even a feature spot by Wu-Tang vet RZA couldn’t save  “American Gangster.” Coincidentally enough, it is RZA’s entrance that derails the track. Right off the bat his flow slams the brakes on an incredible instrumental build courtesy of the Hypnotic Brass Orchestra. If Glover wants to keep his prized new “prod.” tag, he’ll have to learn to pull better performances out of his revolving door cast of guest spots.


Elsewhere on ROYALTY, simple fixes are all that are required to take the album the extra step, which again, is the point of a mixtape. That extra ten percent between good to great is always a challenge, and the point of Gambino’s hard touring and heavy output are to prove he has what it takes to survive in this game. A more involved touch is all that’s keeping “Shoulda Known” from a Top 10 Gambino track. “Doing sew sew, like a seamstress.” Really? That’s all you’ve got, Donald? Sample the Drive soundtrack all you want, no one believes you’re in the 1%.



As we continue through the album, extra kudos go to “Silk Pillow” a welcome cross-section of Childish Gambino’s talents if there has ever been one. Anyone who can draw that kind of performance out of Beck definitely deserves some quality attention. A little needed proof that when Gambino is present in a track, he can really bring it home. Perfectly placed to keep ROYALTY flowing, given previous track “Toxic” is predisposed to (purposely) weird sampling and some overly indulgent interplay between Gambino and manic comedy rapper Danny Brown. Fortunately, it is easy enough to scratch this one off the drawing board and head to greener pastures. 



It will be refreshing to CAMP enthusiasts knowing that Gambino is still at his best during prolonged moments of raw emotion. “Wonderful,” with choruses provided by the exquisite vocal talents of newcomer Josh Osha, (as opposed to the high, pitchy renditions from Glover that listeners have grown accustomed to) fits splendidly in the Childish catalog and will indeed be one of the singles with the most legs to come out of ROYALTY. 


The most important statement to take from ROYALTY is that we now have a more mature but not necessarily better-off Gambino. He is obviously struggling with his place in life. As he says on highlight track “We Ain’t Them” — “Back of my mind, I hope the show gets cancelled. Maybe then I can focus.” referring to his cult favorite sitcom Community — a line no fan of Glover’s is sure to take lightly. Through ROYALTY Gambino is at his most consistent, yet proving himself will always remain his (ultimately unattainable) goal. He attempts to match pace and style with each of his guests, not always successfully, but Gambino is an audibly more confident and progressive performer because of it.



Mitch McCann

King Charles | LoveBlood | Album Review

King Charles | LoveBlood | Album Review



King Charles has spent the better part of the last three years building towards his first release. Gaining a loyal band of followers, each waiting with bated breath for the King’s small tidbits, every EP and Single. Their waiting has finally come to fruition with LoveBlood, and what a welcome release it is.

Contemporary sounds dripping with old age sensibilities that sent people in droves to contemporaries and tourmates Mumford & Sons, King Charles has a decidedly quirkier pop manifest that has served artists far lesser than himself even more. Songs like “Ivory Road,” “Lady Percy,” and “Love Lust” command a release full of joyous musical celebration - one of LoveBlood’s most admirable traits.

While there’s many qualities about LoveBlood that loosen the album enough to allow casual listeners to slip through the cracks — the bubbly, B-movie feel to the romantic, indie pop jams can’t work on EVERYONE — there is something that yields during repeat listens. Giving in to King Charles’ adeptly written and daintily polished tunes (I’ll forever prefer the acoustic Ivory Road) becomes easier, even fonder with each replay. Whether listeners tune in for a second round is another matter entirely.

Every once in awhile, music needs to be reminded that it is a form of true expression. A medium that can communicate whatever it wants to. In the right hands and seen through to the end, an album can reach a place unexplored previously; LoveBlood comes close in this respect for fans. It’s not about pomp and circumstance, it’s about letting it all out. And enjoying it.

Review by Mitch McCann
 

Young the Giant | Interview

Seeds.: You guys have mentioned landing on the Roadrunner record label, which is a traditionally harder rock-oriented label, so how do you guys find touring partners like Walk the Moon or GROUPLOVE?

EC: Most times the bands that you tour with aren’t going to be bands that you and your team choose that you think are good or bands that you’re friends with or that match your sound or energy well. The label hasn’t really helped in many, many ways but we’re the ones that pick and choose who we want to tour with. Walk the Moon we met over a year ago now in Cincinnati, their hometown, while we were on tour with this great band called Pomegranates, and we played a show with all three bands and Walk the Moon were great so when the time came to pick and choose who we wanted to open for us for this bigger national tour [who could] draw some people out and had a good energy to open up the set… When it came down to it, it not about the fact that Roadrunner has Nickelback or Slipknot, everyone down to the guys at Roadrunner and our management with [those guys.] It’s just not our thing It’s obvious… Hopefully it gets to a level where we can say that we have friend bands that are struggling and don’t get the recognition that they deserve. It’s hard to tour, so hopefully one day well have the ability to say ‘Look, we’re taking these guys on the road with us and that’s how it’s gonna be.

Seeds.: Your record has caught on pretty well, but do you remember being in the situation where, say, Walk the Moon or GROUPLOVE is now. Did you guys have a band that came down and extended that hand and helped you a little initially?

Eric Cannata: Yeah, we started out touring California early on and in between recording our record in Los Angeles we went out on a US run with Minus The Bear, we didn’t know anything about touring, and [MtB] and the band was right after us called Everest. They took us under their wing and taught us about touring, they were super sweet dudes. Taught us how to do the trailer how to tour better, with every tour. Every single tour you learn so much… luckily the guys from Minus the Bear, Everest and all the crew were super sweet people and kinda helped guide us along the way. I think we only missed one show on that tour, which is pretty good for a band that never really toured the U.S. before.

Besides that we’ve opened up for a ton of bands in the last two and a half years that we’ve been touring the States, Europe, UK, Indonesia, Australia, Canada. We’ve played with Neon Trees, Marina and the Diamonds, The Futureheads, Steel Train. A bunch of bands at this point. We did a tour with Incubus which was great.

Seeds.: Do you remember the first time thinking the album was going to be bigger than you’d ever thought it’d be, or maybe even a hit?

EC: It’s funny because everyone working on the record were convinced ‘this is gonna be a huge record.’ We were all really young, we’re still young, and just excited to be able to do this. We were all going to school at different colleges in California. This was something that we’ve always dreamed of doing - music full time. Now that we have the opportunity, it’s just a blessing, the record came out and we really didn’t realize the full effect of having a label and a team, the radio push and heavy touring opening for bands. Just trying to get our live show to a place where we’re really comfortable with the show and know that you just come to the show and you’ll hear something better than the records. That was really our thing. The record is doing very well and we’re very blessed people to be able to do this as a living, it’s really our dream.

Seeds.: Having a live performance sound anything like what’s on a record is definitely a virtue, like you said you’ll see these bands who have a hit and the first time they do a live performance they just can’t match it. Is there something that set your live shows that gives it that little special twinge to it?

EC: Recording our record live with our producer Joe Chicarelli, is just a really experienced dude. We didn’t realize until our first day of preproduction that we were going to record the record live. Which means we were in a room and we did all the instrumental tracking, drums, bass, both guitars together in the same room. The amps were all in isolated rooms, but we were all playing together to try and get that live vibe. Sameer would sing the scratch vocal and we would play one song over and  over until we felt that we got a good take. And that [in itself] made our rhythm section play together way, way tighter. Then something else that sets us apart live is our energy. We’re all happy to be onstage, we don’t look like we’re bored, we smile and look at each other and bob our heads. We’re happy to be doing what we’re doing.

Seeds.: The record has been out for a while now and as you’ve said [Young the Giant] has been doing lots of heavy touring with some big opprotunites for you guys to play. You have probably played these songs thousands of times. How do you keep the tunes fresh every night?

EC: We change it up a bit. Actually after the record was done and we started touring  we changed the songs a little bit… atmospherically? It’s not like we went in like ‘oh, I don’t like any of these songs, let’s not play any of them.’ Because when you come to a show you’ll hear pretty much exactly the record, but the changes that we’ve made are things to keep ourselves interested. Average listeners might not notice, but if someone really knows music, listens to the record - they’ll pick up on things hear or there. Different drum or guitar parts, just a slight variation to keep it interesting for us. I mean atmospherically because when I’m on guitar and I add a delay effect where there [wasn’t.] Or when Francois [Comtois] our drummer would add some interesting rack tom rhythm. Also what keeps us most interested is new music, it’s hard to get full songs done while we’re touring so heavily we just weren’t in any groove, and finally we got in some time off in the last three months before this tour started. We wrote a good amount of ideas and we’re actually touring and playing two new songs live. That’s really what keep the energy going. You gotta keep moving forward and keep having new ideas.

Seeds.: You guys have had a few singles make their way out on their own, like ‘My Body” and now “Cough Syrup” is gaining a lot of momentum of its own. What do you think people get  when they come to your full album off those singles?

EC: I think the few singles that are out are good songs, they’re not my favorite as one of the writers. We all write together. Cough Syrup’s an older song. My Body not too much like every other song on the record. I think the cool thing about our record is it’s not just “My Body” and “Cough Syrup” that people seem to dig, everybody I talk to has a different favorite song, which I think is a sign that all the way through people are liking the record. It’s not like “Oh my god ‘My Body’ or ‘Cough Syrup’ is it” lots of people love those songs but they’re the songs that people hear on the radio… The good thing being that I see people singing along to every song, and when we start playing, one of slower songs ‘Islands’ which is really the only place that opens up on the record. Kind of gives it a little bit more room, it’s not so in your face with every single instrument being played the entire song through. That’s one of my personal favorites, it’s kind of a breath of fresh air on the record. I feel like there’s a couple points on the record that drop.

Most of our stuff is a lot more mellow than “My Body” and if you ask anybody in the band if we listen to I guess what “My Body” would be considered… none of us really listen to hard rock, we’re not hating on it, it’s just not our favorite type of music. I’m not too into bands with super heavy distorted guitars or super intense drums and stuff. I can say I think “My Body” is a good song, but it’s one of those things where I think there’s way better on the record, way more interesting songs [than “My Body.”] I think if I were to talk to people who had only listened to [those two songs] I would definitely tell them to come out to a show from before the Young the Giant record, songs from Shake My Hand we play. All the Young the Giant stuff and then you also hear some new stuff, the next record that we’re gonna put out. You kinda get a full little circle there.

Seeds.: Young the Giant writes within pretty common themes (i.e., relationships) but the flavor of the album as a whole is different from some of their contemporaries or if there’s something about your writing process that you think is unique to you guys.

EC: I think every band has their thing. All I know is that I’m really happy the way we do it just because we write together a lot of bands will have the one guy who writes everything and there’s other bands like us where it doesn’t matter if it’s a drum part, bass line, vocal melody or lyric, but something will inspire us to write a song and we’ll go from there. It used to be a lot more “A.D.D.” when we were younger then we matured a little bit, we did our first record. Kind of settled down and found each of our own places in the band. It’s really nice to be able to write with four other creative minds. It really connects us, a lot of bands don’t have that camaraderie of knowing we all did this together.

Seeds.: I think it was Sameer who said you all had this shared vision of the album while you were making it. What was the vision beforehand and how has it changed since then?

EC: The vision for the record was based on youthfulness and even the idea of summer. We’re from California and people have been saying the album has that summer-y feel.
We were all very young, I was only 18 or 19 when we recorded the record and we got to live right on the beach in West Hollywood. This life was given to us where we were told “You’re in a band and don’t have a normal schedule and can do whatever you want.” We kind of took that idea and hung the album on that.

Seeds.: Glee did a cover of “Cough Syrup” that was pretty true to the original and Sameer even did an anti-bullying video. I was just wondering your guys’ thoughts on how Glee used it and how that opportunity came about.

EC: That came pretty recently and we a really good opportunity. none of us watch Glee, but I know a lot of people that really like that show. It is great publicity for [the band.] I didn’t realize it would be that intense, some people online [had negative reactions] but so many more people thought it was great. There’s always going to be people that un-band’s gaining success or what would be considered selling out. I’m really young but to me that term ‘selling out’ doesn’t hold true to anything anymore. If ‘selling out’ means that the artist who’s writing these songs can make a living and continue writing these songs, because they have the ability and the money to, then more power to bands that are on commercial.

Nowadays, it’s not like records are selling like hotcakes. Bands need to find ways to stay with their heads over the water and one of the biggest ways is getting these things or commercials to make a living. Whatever you want to call it, it was a great opportunity, it got our name out there even more than it is right now. And it’s gonna help us get to where we want to be.

Seeds.: It was a great moment in the show, and they stuck pretty true to what you guys wrote. They chose a great way to include it in the show and for you guys to be the benefactor of that is a great opportunity.

EC: They did a great job recreating that song. It was weird listening to it. There were a lot of things that were spot on, there were little things we could tell, but they did a good job. That initial response chart-wise, the Glee version charted higher than our version, but it’s not a bad thing to get that publicity out there.

Seeds.: As a younger band, I think it’s important to get the perspective of somebody who has grown up with internet piracy and the downfall of the full-length CD… Does the band have any opinion on that? Do you think you would have been the same band if you had done it at a different time?

EC: If we were in a different time who knows if people would be into the music we’re making now. I think bands come at the time and get successful that [the music] happens.

About online piracy, we grew up with that was the norm. Which is really messed up. It’s not right, but when you grow up with it it seems normal. You know, “if everyone’s smoking pot, maybe I should smoke? If everyone is downloading the new Flaming Lips album for free, why am I going to go out and pay $12 to buy it? I’m broke anyway.” You know what I mean? If download our recorded illegally, but then we come around your city and you come out to a show and buy a vinyl or a shirt or even buy a ticket to the show - that’s the payoff. I can’t be like “Oh, you’re an a**hole, you downloaded our album.” I’m not gonna lie I’ve downloaded illegally before. It’s a messed up thing, but it was so normal growing up. Everyone would be downloading records, everyone still does. People my age, people old, even little kids. It’s weird, it’s kind of like we were thrown into this industry when the industry doesn’t even know what the hell to do.

It used to be like, you’re at a major record label and you’re good to go, now it’s like, you’re at a major record label and [the label] is so scared that they’re not going to make money from you anymore because records don’t sell [that they take] money from not only records, but this and that, this and that. It has been a good experience for us… but heads of the labels are like “These records 10 years ago, could be going platinum but instead they’re selling 100,000 records. If that’s the case we need to take money from touring, merchandise, from every single facet of where the band makes money.”

So for us, look, if you download our record, come out to a show and buy a $20 or a sweatshirt for your kid. We worked with [Grammy award winning producer] Joe Chicarelli and he put it in perspective for me when I was talking about online piracy. His report on it, and he’s an older guy… you’re blind to the fact that it messes with these artists and how it messes with their lives and their livelihoods, but then when you go back to when you were 13 years old and your friends or cousin or whatever says “Look at this there’s this website you can press a button and you get a CD for free!” Of course you’re going to do that, your first instinct is to fill up your 10 Gb iPod. Someone told me the other day if you fill up one of the big iPods 120 Gb, 60 Gb whatever. If you fill one of the up the cost of those in CDs is like $50,000… All that music you got for free.

Now we have Spotify, Pandora. All those different ways of finding new music. You can have them on your phone, press a button and you’ve got all this new music. Those are definitely good things.

Seeds.: What can people expect from this tour?

EC: Yeah, people coming out to this tour can expect a little weirdness, we play the remix to Ignition by R. Kelly last night in Chicago. In fur coats. It was pretty epic.

Seeds.: You guys have a lot of sold out dates on the upcoming tour…

EC: We went on our first headlining run in 2011 and all those shows were sold out as well, but that was playing to 150 to at most 500 person rooms. And now I think every show on the tour is sold out and we’re playing to 1,000 to 2,5000 people. It’s a dream tour. I guess as we’re more tour-wise, you realize it could all still be better. You could always be better. Whether its your guitar tone to how the tours get ran, little things… We’re very very lucky to be able to do this. I get up on stage and I just smile, “Where the hell am I? How the hell did we get here?”

Q&A by Mitch McCann

Justice | Audio, Video, Disco | Album Review

It’s hard to live up to a successful debut. The first time around there’s nothing to expect, once you have something to compare yourself to, there’s only one of two ways to go. It’s solely on the bands shoulders to energize the creative wherewithal to play against a stacked deck. That being said, of all the French electronic duos, Justice is by far the best suited to heave the modern scene into the future - and they do so by heading backwards.
 
As modern a rendition of the 70’s ideal of free love as possible, Justice skyrockets and plunges simultaneously. Through powerful arrangements and what I’m going to call “loose, cheeky sampling,” Gaspard Auge, Xavier de Rosnay, and Auge’s moustache detail yet another chapter of the Book of Justice. With all the gravitas of a sledgehammer but the artful wit of a master craftsman, no one’s derailing these gents.

Justice, as they are wont to do, bust down doors and get s**t started and don’t let up through the whole release. Sonically beautiful and certainly worth the price of admission “Audio, Video, Disco” is a keepsake that can’t wait to do all that is necessary to yank nay-sayers into the Justice way of thinking. After all is said and done, if there was an act that had to follow Rosnay and Auge’s showstopping debut “Cross,” it might has well have been Rosnay and Auge.

by Mitch McCann

Development, Unarrested

After almost five years of waiting, fans of the Fox semi-hit turned massive cult phenomena Arrested Development were finally validated for their years of wishing. Countless blogs from nearly every pop culture outlet have begged for the return of the sitcom, now counted among the best in history, and for the first time have received some validation. Last week several members of the cast and crew let it slip that not only would the long-anticipated Arrested Development movie be released, but a fourth season (on a network that has yet to be decided) will preclude the release of the film.

Mitchell Hurwitz, the creator of Arrested Development, is widely believed to be somewhat of a “mad genius” when it comes to writing and showrunning. Hardcore AD viewers and cast members often rally behind Hurwitz’s mysterious brilliance, but what’s to stop fans from thinking that in a post-AD world - a world that’s given Hurwitz plenty of chances to re-do Arrested Development - how can he return to the heights he achieved once before?

The short of it is, that without his now legendary cast of characters and corners to cut, Hurwitz is struggling from too much freedom. Even Running Wilde, in its trivial run, still had a touch of madness to it, albeit too little to sustain the show. The second Hurwitz is thrown back into a hole that’s too deep to escape from, the madness will return. So long as Hurwitz has no idea where he’s going - Arrested Development will still be great.

For most fans, just the thought of getting to see Jason Bateman, David Cross, and everyone else (there is seriously not one dud in the entire cast) return to the screen is enough of a driving force for the show’s triumphant return. Arrested Development has proven over the course of the last five years that it doesn’t deserve to be filed away as a cautionary tale, it deserves a proper ending. An ending that only Mitch Hurwitz and the cast have the ability to deliver.

With all the influence it’s had over the sitcom genre (30 Rock, Community, and Party Down are three examples of shows directly influenced by AD) fans are certainly aching for a glamorous return. Somewhat in the vein of Futurama’s ludicrously tongue-in-cheek post-hiatus return to regular programming, we’re certainly expecting some subtle-but-not-really jabs at FOX. Comebacks are rarely done well, but Hurwitz is certainly jaded enough to have spent the last however many years cooking up how he’s going to rub the big wigs nose in it.

Yet, in the digital age, over-hyping could easily hamper any anticipated event. The funny thing about it is the premiere is, is that it may actually be the first time a large portion - maybe even a majority of viewers - get to watch episodes in the standard week-to-week format. The cult following built online and through the DVDs are some of their strongest and most outspoken fans; fans who probably didn’t catch them during the original run. It’s this big machine that just keeps feeding itself and producing more and more fans and more and more interest in the upcoming (finger’s crossed?) debut.

Watching the Bluth family became an addiction for fans, so the tendency for hyperbole is apt, as is the need to critique everything we see. To be able to watch them in a serialized manner rather than week-to-week definitely rewards the viewer, as it is often hard to immerse yourself fully into the rhythm of AD until well into an episode, even without commercials. The idea of only watching episodes one at a time, especially since today’s fans likely saw them for the first time via DVD box sets or repeated online viewing, seems miserable. An Arrested Development watch party leading up to the premiere may be ideal for the fans to be in the correct mindset for the fresh batch of episodes.

Arrested Development’s influence on the modern day was both overt and subtle. The blogosphere never misses a chance to tout the series’ incredible cleverness and ruthless wit, as well as trudge through the “cancelled before its time” mud. Fans of Arrested Development have never allowed it to fade from memory. The show earned a firm place among the lexicon of millions of deeply committed fanboys, on whose strength and resilience the show has finally found new life. Hulu, Netflix, Twitter, blogs the world over, fan pages and watch parties have given the show a depth and meaning that became so far-reaching that it has come full circle. The tension has built so much that is has finally snapped. Ten episodes and a movie to close of one of the most inescapable chapters in American pop culture.

By Mitch McCann and Greg Bright

Wilco | Album Review

Coming out of the other side of the controversy surrounding the release of their 2001 album,’Yankee Hotel Foxtrot’, Wilco became more of a metaphor for the broken music industry and have since spent their career blossoming what could have easily been a short lived blaze of glory. Following a string of successful, but critically mixed set of albums, Wilco decided to do the only sensible decision left - form their own label. Now, on dBpm records, Wilco’s seems to have found that much needed “umph” and raw creativity critics couldn’t find for themselves on the last few.

Opener “Art of Almost” takes Wilco fans on a journey both backwards and forwards in time. Back to introspective, wandering punchline and forwards to strong rock presence and deeper arrangements. “Rising Red Lung’s” fluid guitar work paired with Tweedy’s new found (and diverse) vocals ache for more listens. The developed presence (like that on “Lung”) on the record bleeds out across almost the entire record, leaving a full impression seemingly lacking from previous efforts.

Across the ambling country croon tunes with electronic runs, broken, disjointed laments, and cross generational pure-blooded pop songs, ‘The Whole Love’  but all with a distinct Jeff Tweedy touch. A vibe that is all their own; by Wilco, for Wilco… but thankfully not ‘Wilco (The Album).’

Overall, ‘The Whole Love’ has less bark and more bite, which is something listeners haven’t seen from a Wilco album in quite awhile.

Certainly bending towards Tweedy’s strengths, ‘The Whole Love’ handles its weight well, with the stand outs (namely “Born Alone,” “Black Moon,” and “Whole Love”) performing well under any circumstances that even the kinks that come with them (“I Might,” “Standing O”) work themselves out along the way. As with most other Wilco efforts, the most gains are afforded to those who put in the most effort. Multiple listens aren’t necessary, but strongly recommended for those wishing to fully realize the newest product of Wilco being the only ones in charge of Wilco.

Review by Mitch McCann

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Fade to Black: The ‘Slow Burn’ of Rescue Me

While critics doubted a masculine dramedy based around the events of September 11th could sustain itself, Allowing FX to put all their faith behind creators Denis Leary and Peter Tolan to deliver them their next big hit. For those who have stuck with the series (now one of FX’s longest) it has done just that. At the expense of more than a handful of characters and the occasional rehashed monologue, it has sustained the fire it began all the way back in 2004.

Unseen on almost any other series before it, Rescue Me featured a kind of ripcord drama that energized viewers, tugged at heart strings, and in its hay-day, delivered some seriously breathtaking television. A truly sobering series with subtle pay offs, Rescue Me never gave an inch - it took one. One step forward, three steps back.

As a serialized drama that not only grappled with, but frequented the subjects of loss, alcoholism, homophobia, racism, and the attacks of September 11th, Rescue Me followed Denis Leary as balls to the wall, daredevil firefighter Tommy Gavin as he tried to hold himself together against all odds, and then watched him slide when he couldn’t.

Perhaps what is most surprising about the show, is that despite the its physical presence being repeatedly shaken by tragedy, reconciliation, heartbreak and utter collapse, its emotional core never wavered. Rescue Me is ultimately about what it means to be connected to another human being and what happens when those lines are blurred and crossed.

As the 10th anniversary of 9/11 drew closer, it became increasingly clear that the public had dealt with it in their own time, and what Rescue Me once considered its central tenet - the aftermath of the attacks and Tommy’s struggle with them - became a well they returned to too often. The creators, like the firefighters, used 9/11 as a mask for the problems underneath. Fine television is rarely able to be stretched out over seven seasons, and Rescue Me was no exception.

Following the lives of the Gavin family and 62 Truck from what is likely the most tumultuous start in any series’ history to an ultimately satisfying climax was one of the most rewarding and painful experiences of my life. Even after everything that Leary took from his viewers, emotionally or otherwise, he delivered in the end. Tommy Gavin came through for us all one final time.

By Mitch McCann

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