Mark Kozelek

What's Next To The Moon (Badman Recording Co. ’02) Rating: B+
To put it mildly, this album's a real head scratcher. I mean, c'mon, the frontman of the cult "slowcore" band Red House Painters releasing an album of 10 cover songs from the testosterone overloaded bad boys in AC/DC? It works better than you think. In fact, Kozelek had already covered three AC/DC songs on his previous solo EP, Rock 'N' Roll Singer (2000), released as a stopgap while his last Red House Painters album was held up due to record label problems (Old Ramon was finally released by Sub Pop in 2001, and he subsequently released albums with Sun Kil Moon). The thing is, no matter who he records with/as, or whose songs he sings, the end result is always a Mark Kozelek album, even this one, which transforms what were originally highly energized hard rockers into beautifully melancholic acoustic ballads. Even my mother, upon hearing this, said "this is nice, who is it?," and this is a great album to fall asleep to. If that sounds like this album lacks excitement, well, it does, and sometimes the lyrics-to-music match is so off as to be disorienting; tracks like "Bad Boy Boogie" and "If You Want Blood" don't really work. At its best, however, songs such as the lullaby-like "Up To My Neck In You" and "You Ain't Got A Hold On Me" (featuring the album's most affecting vocal by Kozelek) are absolutely lovely, needing no more than Kozelek's soothing voice, lone acoustic guitar, and a dash of reverb. It's fascinating how, merely by presenting Bon Scott's lyrics (sorry, no Brian Johnson-era songs here) in a different context, "Love At First Feel" is transformed from a horny, lewd rocker into an endearing, far more innocent ballad. The meaning of "Love Hungry Man" is likewise completely inverted; whereas Bon was on the prowl for his next quick score, Kozelek seems lonely, damn near desperate for true love. The album's most satisfying song from a musical standpoint is the title track, which has a fuller sound and sees Kozelek singing in a deeper voice; I would've loved to have heard Johnny Cash cover this folk blues cover. "Walk All Over You," on which Bon's nastiness is removed, and "Rock 'N' Roll Singer," whose lyrics about wanting to rock out are matched to typically soft (dare I say wimpy) music, are other contradictory notables that will likely either fascinate or infuriate you, but make no doubt about it, this album is definitely different. Most of the time, I enjoy these short (the album is only 30 minutes long, which is just about right), tasteful reworkings, and I certainly admire the sheer chutzpah of the attempt; how in the world did he ever even think of conceiving this album? It's still no more than a side project, as it's not really the place to start with Mark Kozelek's music (since his own introspective lyrics are a big part of his appeal), and it's certainly not the place to start with AC/DC. But by and large this is a very interesting side project, despite its potential to induce boredom if not listened to in the right frame of mind. In 2005, Kozelek, under the Sun Kil Moon moniker, did another all covers album, this time of Modest Mouse (who frankly are far less deserving of the honor) songs, though no doubt it's ultimately another Mark Kozelek album through and through.

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