Jason Simon – Jason Simon

Jason Simon’s softly-spoken, ethereal vocal has been captivating fans of Dead Meadow for over a decade, so it only seems fair that their lead singer should step up with his own debut album. Similarly, it only seems fair that we treat it with the reverence it deserves. Accompanied by Dead Meadow bassist Steve Kille, Simon proceeds to thread psychedelic drone-tinged folk onto warm, heartfelt americana rhythms and houses it all within craftily simplistic structures. Cyclical acoustic guitar and see-sawing bass notes root the whole thing to the ground whilst distortion, sustain, whammy bar and wah-wah effects build up an atmospheric canvas for Simon to plaster his colourful lyrics upon.

Opening with a set of songs that all contain a lucid, well-defined pattern of elegantly plucked guitar, Simon sings frayed blues with lyrics that are faintly brushed with a melancholic cynicism – “With your soul black soul I still hold, here black as coal” (‘Good Hope Road’) or “Please don’t bite the hand from which you’re fed” (‘Strayin’). ‘The Dust Does Blow’ ups the ante, taking us down a panicked, obliquely-threatening dark road – with chanted lyrics like “All that is within is without’ and ‘I’m straining you out” it could easily be some form of campfire ritual being performed. Never is the divide between folk and psych so transparent than on ‘A House On A Hill’. It pits a galloping finger-strummed rhythm and walking bass up against a pitching, echoic lead guitar that shimmies in and out, completely at odds with that which surrounds it. Jarring on first listen, it’s interesting how the track quickly becomes acceptably pleasant.

It’s not often you hear an album without a full set of drums, but here the sloth-like in-and-out wash of the chords (on ‘Hollow Eyed And Howling’), an unfussy brushed snare (on ‘What You Put Into Your Head’) or the simple metronomic shake of a tambourine (on a cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘As I Went Out One Morning’) will certainly still have you nodding your head along. When you consider the gentile psychedelics that Dead Meadow are famed for, it’s no surprise to find Jason Simon plundering down-tempo, turn on-tune in-drop out music but it’s still a delight to find him revelling in such uncomplicated, stripped-back songs such as these.