THE EVENS
Get Evens
Discord Records
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The Evens' second album,
Get Evens
, is a 10-song collection by indie music veterans Ian MacKaye (Minor Threat and Fugazi) and Amy Farina (The Warmers). It is the low-tech but muscular follow-up to their 2005 self-titled debut that realized MacKaye's vocal range and Farina's dexterous drumming abilities.
Get Evens
was recorded in the basement studio of MacKaye's Dischord record label in summer 2006. It's an album largely informed by looming midterm elections, foreign policy debacles and the general DC area. MacKaye sings lead on most tracks while ambling through aggressive chord progressions. Farina plays drums, provides lead vocals on several tracks and anchors unexpected harmonies. If you're thinking The White Stripes, think again. Before the album even begins, MacKaye responds to thunder in the background, "What the hell was that?" he asks. "Electricity," Farina replies. In a way, this brief exchange exemplifies the album's misleading simplicity, full of songs with deep questioning without pretense or forced artifice. It's also indicative of the balance and restraint between two musicians accustomed to more raucous compositions.
The album's first track, "Cut from the Cloth," sets the tone by laying down the album's fundamentals: rich baritone guitar chords, swift drums and politically amped lyrics MacKaye has been forging since the early '80s. His voice is almost unrecognizable from the Minor Threat and Fugazi eras. Lyrics beginning, "Why would they sing in favor of their own defeat?" and continuing with, "Maybe they found their voice while shopping," replace the once hammering vocals for more contemplative routes. The album's lyrical themes and subjects remain consistent with MacKaye's steadfast political beliefs spilled through years of self-produced and independent albums.
"Everybody Knows," "No Money" and "Dinner with the President" represent the album's strongest moments. At times, the same subdued energy that reveals the album's lyrical strengths is a bit tedious throughout the 10-song stretch, but it still manages to remain interesting with the signature textures MacKaye and Farina fans will recognize despite the repackaging.
Get Evens
is not a far stretch for these two musicians. It's not a reinvention as much as a natural progression in their artistic sensibilities, in which art and political commentary manage to exist equally.
