Ben Barnett has a few problems, and by gum, he wants to tell you all about
them. "Great", you say. "I've got enough problems as it is without some
other whiney bastard adding his to the pile." Normally, I'd be inclined to
agree with this assessment of other people's problems. Hell, there's a
reason I'm not a therapist. However, Ben Barnett is different. He has a way
of making his problems, which, at the root, are pretty much the same as
every other poor slob's problems, seem different. Or special,
if you prefer. Now, how, you ask, does he do this? Very simple: by writing
alarmingly good songs about them.
If you're a newcomer to Barnett's problems, you might find yourself a bit
blown away by the catharsis and sheer rage that oozes out of every crevasse
of Bridges Worth Burning. And even if you're a Kind of Like Spitting
fan from way back, there are still surprises to be found on the band's
latest. For instance, the fiery reworking of "Tyco Racing Set and A
Christmas Story Fifteen Times" simply destroys the original, found on the
band's 2000 release Old Moon in the Arms of the New, by supplying it
with a healthy quantity of searing guitar licks and a sturdy backbeat
courtesy of drummer Ben Gibbard (yes, that Ben Gibbard). KOLS has
often reinterpreted this song live in a similar fashion, and it's nice to
hear this version of the song actually be put to tape. Barnett is obviously
not one to shy away from his past, as two other songs on Bridges Worth
Burning are remakes of old KOLS songs: both "Continent", which appeared
on KOLS' Insound Tour Support EP, and "Crossover Potential" receive
significant makeovers here. Thankfully, in all cases, the full band
arrangements improve dramatically on the versions that Barnett originally
set down by himself with a four-track.
KOLS has always been an utterly phenomenal live band. On a good night,
backed by a tight band, Barnett has the ability to convince self-respecting
musicians that they are cheaters and frauds, and that they should throw
their guitars down and simply give up, because they'll never get as good as
this. Hundred Dollar Room, KOLS' last full-length, saw Barnett
creeping ever closer to capturing this intensity on record. Bridges Worth
Burning gets just that much closer -– barn-burners like "Born Beautiful"
and "This Lemonade is Terrible" are staggering efforts in which you can
practically see the veins on Barnett's forehead distending as he screams out
his bitter, anguished lyrics. Oh yeah, that's the other thing –- Barnett is
an eloquent, evocative writer, consistently transforming his psychological
trauma into pointed nuggets of wisdom that stick with you. "It's a classless
kind of fate; it holds its ground in the way that death just makes you
wait", he hollers righteously in "Born Beautiful", and if you're unclear on
exactly what fate he's talking about, you're missing the point. Elsewhere,
as in "I Want Out", he's much more pointed: "I want to peel the skin
away / Peel it back off of my face / All the words and empty promises, release
them / I want lightning through my roof / While I tear apart your room / Find all
the love you gave to me, retrieve it".
Barnett has always been about catharsis, whether it was simply the
banging-on-an-acoustic-guitar-in-a-lonely-room kind of catharsis that his
early records espouse, or the more focused, intense version that debuted
with his early high-water mark Nothing Makes Sense Without It.
However, Bridges sees Barnett marrying that catharsis to some of the
most catchy rock 'n' roll he's yet produced. The result is, more often than
not, quite stunning. The first three songs on the record set the bar
immediately: the tense, urgent "Passionate" ("Let's be passionate, it's not
like we get another chance to do this") segues perfectly into the
manic-depressive bounce of "We Are Both Writers", which then careens
headlong into the fiery "Born Beautiful". From there, it's the usual back
and forth between the soft (the acoustic "Canaries", the slow-burn "I Want
Out") and the loud (the sheer punk fury of "This Lemonade Is Terrible", the
sprightly "Following Days"), and the band proves themselves equally capable
of kicking ass in either mode.
It seems that Kind of Like Spitting have finally arrived with the
release of Bridges Worth Burning. They're finally on a label (Barsuk
Records) that can support them to some extent and help them get to where
they need to be (if my count is right, this is KOLS' seventh release and sixth
record label!). The fact that the record they just made is their best yet
can only help matters along.
— 11 September 2002
