Album Review

In the mid 90’s, my brother and I discovered an album called Squeaky Clean. The melodies were colorful and accompanied by a modern rock edge that explored pop territory in ways that few bands of that time did. The band was Pushstart Wagon. Prayer Chain guitarist Andy Prickett produced the album. That was all the validation my brother and I needed for this pop record. By that time in my teenage life, radio-ready rock was starting to bore me. But Pushstart had all the right ingredience, and a wack-load of energy to boot. Besides, The Prayer Chain were my favorite band by that time, and Mr. Prickett’s involvement ensured me that Squeaky Clean was the gem I had initially thought it to be. We wore that record out. Definitely an anthem album for many Canadian summers. And then they were not. Pushstart Wagon was just a statistic; a one record wonder. I never heard what became of the band, but I never saw another record ever hit a store shelf.

Well, good things come to those who wait. After a 10-year hiatus, Pushstart Wagon finally turns in their sophomore album. Mind you, it’s not like this recording is a 10-year opus in the making. Steve Guiles didn’t fall into a deep depression a la Brian Wilson 8 years ago while working on a grand follow-up to their debut. No one (at lease to my knowledge) was strung up on drugs to rid the pressure of creating an American pop classic. Nope, none of that. The boring truth is that life happened. Note to self: the rockstar gig doesn’t guarantee rockstar cash. Endnote. But enough of lamenting on why it took Pushstart so long to present their second recording. Just be glad that it’s here. The band didn’t die after all, and the proof is in their self-produced, L.A. Was Our Alamo.

 It’s almost unfair to compare the new album to their previous effort, considering the maturity that occurs over the span of 10 years. That said, LAWOA shares very little in common with the band of the 90’s. The modern power pop of yesteryear is traded in for a much artier progressive pop-rock with alt-country overtones, just as the album title implies. “Paul” kicks the record of to a anthemic sing-along start, as Guiles begins by saying “If I had one chance, this is what I’d say…” The one thing that has remained the same from their debut to this is Steve Guiles’ vocals. They were one of a handful of reasons I fell in love with the band those many years ago.

When “Paul” started playing the first time, I was like, “Yesssss. I missed that voice.” And Pushstart isn’t afraid of running the risk of alienating their audience with lyrics like “you said Jesus wouldn’t buy you no smokes / He wouldn’t laugh at all your off-color jokes / but you keep coming back like a hearse Cadillac / to the funeral home that you took out on loan”. Guiles finds a way to make his themes tie nicely into the feeling and composition of the songs, leaving him plenty of room to speak his mind. “Radiation” introduces us to the “L.A.” theme, and points a sarcastic finger at Bono. The chorus is illegally infectious, yet bares a hint of Wilco’s twang. The highlight of the album is track 3. “Country Star” is a fumbling creed of a love song that is both heartfelt and tongue-in-cheek. The “yippy yi yay, yippy yi yay” chorus is a stroke of genius. This song may contend for best song of 2005, despite the “un-hip for the hipsters” stigma that the band will undoubtedly face. With 3 great lead-off songs, the truth is L.A. Was Our Alamo is top heavy. “Mary” is a good song that has a waltzing swooning feel not unlike an organic Jars of Clay or Caedmon’s Call.

The middle of the album continues with the formula the record began with, but the hooks need to be a little stronger and the crunch needs to be a little heavier. My attention is genuinely grabbed again when “I Could Be So True” plays. This sounds uncannily similar to something off a Derek Webb album. The forced nature of “Aisle Walker” means well, but misses the mark. “Teenage Bible” seems to want to be the “I Take U Everywhere I Go” relative for the new album, but again, the results are less than fluid. However, the “ba ba ba ba” vocals of “Defend You” forgives the errors heard on LAWOA’s second half. The record is ended by the triumphant ballad of “Los Angeles. Guiles sets an intimate tone and has a mature handle on metaphors. “San Francisco, she wears fishnets / and high, high heels / with her lips opened wide as she breathes out a sigh”.

Pushstart Wagon has grown up over 10 years…like the rest of us did. And they manage to deliver a relevant, clever and poignant alt-pop record. They survived their Alamo and they want to tell you about it. Worth getting.

~ Garrett Johnson