MOVIES/ TV/ MUSIC/ B O O K S← (From left)
Pearl Jam’s Mike
McCready, Matt
Cameron, Eddie
Vedder, Jeff
Ament, and Stone
Gossard have
returned to rock
→ Vedder in the
early ’90snew world. They are clearly
undaunted. Musically, at least, as
the album is suffused with patches
of fear, dread, and anger, which feel
fittingly, depressingly, and catharti-
cally of the moment—even if many
of the songs themselves are not
explicit in a lyrical sense.
Produced by longtime technician
Josh Evans and the band mem-
bers—Vedder, guitarists Stone
Gossard and Mike McCready, bass-
ist Jeff Ament, and drummer Matt
Cameron—Gigaton opens with a
staggering hat trick that may be
among the band’s best one-two-
three punches ever and easily helps
the album earn its explosive
name. (For a band that famously can
be turgid, this a workout-worthy
trio of kinetic and invigorating
tunes.) The music seeps in stealthily
on opener “Who Ever Said” before a
big jolt of riffage and a gathering
storm of guitars come charging out
as Vedder brays “Home is where the
broken heart is/Home is where
every scar is.” It’s a world in a song as
it moves from vibe to vibe, all neatly
cohering against the odds, given
the varying elements.
The urgency continues right into
the punky bounce of “Superblood
Wolfmoon” and its shred ding solo
before pivoting to the new-wave
bubbly bass pop of “Dance of the
Clairvoyants”—the jagged, staccato
vocal bursts of which make it seem
like Vedder has particularly been
enjoying some early-’80s Talking
Heads and Peter Gabriel.
The balance of the 12 tracks pro-
vides other pleasures but never quite
reaches the vibrancy of this opening
salvo, instead rising and falling like
the EKG lines threaded throughout
the album art. “Quick Escape” and
“Seven O’Clock” both have the rare
Vedder falsetto flights inside harder
rockers. “Quick Escape” and the
snakily percussive “Take the Long
Way” boast a lighter, airier backing
vocal sound that feels fresh for the
band, with the latter containing
another warped and scorching solo.
Vedder is on his game here.
Vocally he sounds as if he has not
aged a day. Conversely, his lyrical
growth is formidable: The album
features some instantly memorablecouplets, from despairing to comic,
offering up vulnerability, self-
doubt, and furious indignation.
For those expecting, or even
hoping for, a straightforward,
incendiary cri de coeur regarding
the current political climate, Giga-
ton will be a mixed bag depending
on how you interpret the lyrics.
Certainly there are allusions both
obvious and opaque—lyrics refer-
encing “collusion in plain sight” or
“While the government thrives on
discontent...proselytizing and
profitiz ing ”—but the concerns here
are both global and internal.
One suspects that taking the
time Pearl Jam did was crucial for
the energy and depth of their
album, which is neither a “return to
form” nor some far-out noise
experiment from bored musicians
seeking new thrills or levels of
credibility. It’s a sturdy rock album
from five guys who know what
they’re doing, took time till they
had something to say, are interpo-
lating new influences, and sound
stoked to be back together in a
room. Die-hard fans will be pleased,
and more casual fans will be pleas-
antly surprised, when a handful of
these tracks prove their mettle as
additions to the band’s live show,
which will help subvert nostalgia
for a heritage act. Will those fans
play it as much as Vitalogy? Maybe
not, but it’s a strong showing for a
band with so many miles behind it
and a hopeful sign for the ones that
lie ahead. If, as Vedder intones, we
are in a collective state of f---ery—
and it certainly feels that way—it’s
nice to have these guys back to help
give the end-times a little oomph.
B+ —SARAH RODMAN“Crazy Mary”
This cover of Victoria Williams’
haunting Southern gothic tune
was recorded for the first all-star
Sweet Relief tribute album
to benefit the revered singer-
songwriter. Its foreboding, serpen-
tine shimmer and Vedder’s quirky
vocals make this one of the band’s
best-ever non-album cuts.“Love, Reign O’er Me”
Longtime Pearl Jam fans have seen
the band cycle through plenty of
Who covers in concert over the
years, but this majestic anthem,
released as a fan-club single in
2006 and on the sound track to the
2007 Adam Sandler film Reign Over
Me, always brings shivers.“Last Kiss”
Ironically, given its subject matter,
this track, originally released as
a 1998 fan-club single, had a very
long life. It appeared on both the
1999 benefit album No Boundaries:
A Benefit for the Kosovar Refugees
and 2003’s Lost Dogs rarities
record. It also ended up being the
band’s biggest hit, going to No. 2 on
the Hot 100. The retro ditty, a faith-
fully swinging version of a Wayne
Cochran song, tells the tearful tale
of a teen killed in a car crash.Cover Stories
PEARL JAM MADE THEIR BONES
ON ORIGINALS BUT LOVE A GOOD
COVER. HERE ARE SOME WORTHY
NON-ALBUM TUNES BY OTHERS
THAT THE SEATTLE ROCKERS COM-
MITTED TO TAPE. By Sarah RodmanEVERETT COLLECTIONAPRIL2020.MUSIC1.LO.indd 81 FINAL 3/3/20 12:47 PM