Pass The Buck

Peter Buck was the first former REM-er to come out with a solo record. He also appears to be the only one planning to do that. Only a year after his eponymous and vinyl-only solo debut, he returns with I Am Back To Blow Your Mind Once Again. The debut was not earth-shattering. It felt loose and fun, things that Peter Buck never really seemed when he was in REM. The follow-up here, also a vinyl-only production, is more of the same.

His primary cohort is Scott McCaughey, he of The Minus 5 and long-time collaborator/pal of Buck. It is kind of a bluesy, boozy record.  I don't suspect this record took terribly long to make. It reminds me in terms of feel of the record he and Mike Mills and Bill Berry did with Warren Zevon back in the early 90s as Hindu Love Gods. It's the kind of record that musicians make when they are having a good time. It's not an artistic statement, it's not reaching for something great. It's a portrait of a talented artist doing his thing. It does not quite live up to it's name. But it's a welcome diversion.

Buck does not have the most magnetic voice. It is often drenched in effect but his voice is sort of a natural effect. He was not meant to be a front-man. But that is not a criticism, just a fact. It suits the vibe though. When McCaughey takes the lead vocal on the nice mid-tempo cut "Fall On My Own Sword" it's a noticeable shift.

The first three songs are solid rockers, especially the third one "Life Is Short" where Kurt...somebody. The credits on the back label don't go into much detail. Anyway he gets off a great psychedelic guitar solo that goes on a bit too long, which is perfectly fine.

The Drive By Truckers' Patterson Hood shows up for the most interesting song on the record: "Southerner." It features Buck on a sinister sounding enow guitar while Hood recites the lyrics, capturing what it means to be a southerner of a certain age.

The only song I could find on YouTube was "Drown With Me," which features Sleater-Kinney's Corin Tucker on lead vocal, and sounds like it could have come off of New Adventures in Hi-Fi. I didn't look that hard for a video, though.