Steve Poltz "Traveling"

If you were looking at a list of Steve Poltz’s career achievements, it’d absolutely stop you in your tracks: toured the world with his revered band The Rugburns, wrote nearly enough songs to compete with Robert Pollard, wrote “You Were Meant For Me” for Jewel, sold a tune or two to well-placed commercials, knocked audiences dead every time he picked up a guitar . . .and was considered “most influential artist of the decade” in some wacky awards ceremony in San Diego.

Now, if Poltz himself were in charge of that resume, it would likely be a list of smaller victories: trick-or-treating at Liberace’s house, meeting Elvis, being allowed to play his guitar for a living, making a children’s album, etc. And most of that might seem like minutia to the average guy, but that’s the type of stuff Steve writes about. There’s no better example of it than the eleven songs collected on his new album Traveling.

Okay, it’s important for you to know that any record with Poltz at the helm can be a bit predictable - and as a huge fan of his, I mean that in the most loving way possible. His earlier releases with The Rugburns started out as quirky tunes that didn’t stray too far from your average wacky coffee house singer-songwriter stuff, and when the namesake eventually turned into a fully fledged band, the ensuing albums - Mommy, I’m Sorry and Taking The World By Donkey - often sounded like your run-of-the-mill bar band, albeit one with a much better penchant for off-kilter lyrics and melodies than you’d expect. And of course, the ‘Burns were at their best in a live setting - beer-soaked shows that could often push the four-hour mark, filled with enough crowd favorites (”I Want To Learn About Love”, “Dick’s Automotive”, “The Ballad Of Tommy & Marla”) to make the punters happy, but also littered with enough unexpected covers (”Little Red Corvette”, “Waterfalls”) to make even the most casual fan of music in general stand up and take notice of what these guys were up to. Thanks to the energetic live shows and inexcusably catchy tunes, you simply couldn’t avoid their radio singles if you turned on a radio in the southwestern area of the U.S. during the nineties. I mean, I personally remember hearing “Hitchhiker Joe”, “Me & Eddie Vedder”, “The Fairies Came”, “I Want A War” and “Better Be Careful” being so ubiquitous at the time that my *grandmother* was actually humming them. No lie.

It looked like the band was gonna take over the world, and then . . . nothing. Poltz’s sidekick Robert Driscoll quit the band seemingly out of the blue, and next thing you knew, Steve embarked on an under-the-radar solo career that saw him effortlessly blowing away every audience he came in contact with, yet producing a stream of uneven and often confounding records. 1998’s One Left Shoe was chock full of good songs, but often moved at the pace of an injured snail on downers. There were albums that followed which were solely recorded on answering machines, a few live albums, and one album that almost completely delivered on all of the promise Poltz had shown as a songwriter/performer - 2003’sChinese Vacation And while all of the songs on the latter album were uniformly phenomenal - with some undeniable classics thrown in, like “Friendly Fire”, “I Killed Walter Matthau” and the glorious title track - it didn’t set the world on fire. Few outside of The Cult Of Steve heard it, and it wouldn’t be out of the question for a newcomer to look at the already-dated production on his show stopping cover of TLC’s “Waterfalls” and wrinkle up their nose. I only say that out of sheer exasperation and confusion, clutching at straws and wondering why this guy hasn’t yet been crowned “troubadour of the millennium” or something. It’s unreal.

Well, finally, he’s dropped not just his best album in years, but the ultimate Steve Poltz album. It’s called Traveling, and it plays just like the album that he’s been working towards his whole life. There’s a lot to love here, and I couldn’t be more honored to tell you all about it. Here’s what you’ve got:

First off, the packaging is out of this world. Traveling comes in an oversized case that looks like a mini-gatefold LP. There’s also an in-depth booklet/passport full of not only production notes, but also a list of things that Steve has accomplished in his lifetime and a few photos of him as a kid. I’ve gotta admit that I’ve never seen this kind of layout, and I was pretty impressed. And remember, this is coming from a guy that usually isn’t bowled over by art layouts unless it’s handmade.

Secondly, we’ve gotta talk about this production. Billy Harvey recorded the record, and a cat by the name of Lars Gorlandson mixed it. Thank god they did, too. Instead of taking the predictable singer-songwriter route of just committing the songs to tape with a dry, yet intimate feel . . . these guys helped Poltz make his most relevant, in-your-face and layered album to date. The first two songs tell the tale best: “I Think She Likes Me” opens with a minute or so of atmospheric layers of acoustic guitars before a single word is uttered, and the build-up in “Rain” is the best usage of multi-tracking you’ll hear this side of Broken Social Scene.

Thirdly, that brings us to the songs themselves. Steve’s never delivered a set this air-tight on even his most unbelievable albums. Uncompromising at every turn, the aforementioned opener “I Think She Likes Me” finally hits the chorus around the two-minute mark, and you’re waiting for the second verse to churn out it’s magic, but . . . poof! The song is over before you
know it. A similar mindfuck occurs during “Rain.” It has one of the few false endings I’ve ever heard that didn’t make me yell at no one in particular for the artist’s usage of silly songwriter tricks to make you think a song is cooler than it actually is. Nope, it actually works as an effective tool to bring the swirling tune back to some kind of normalcy, while also helps move the album back into quirkier territory like “What Would Ghandi Do?”.

Now’s a good time to point out that Poltz can turn a lyrical phrase like nobody’s business. The chorus to the aforementioned “Ghandi” goes something like this: “Holy rollers clutching bibles / Turn water into moonshine like good disciples”. Okay, yeah... religious confusion is nothing new, and neither is pointing out the hypocrisy of (insert organized religion here). But have you ever heard anyone boil it down so perfectly in just two lines without resorting to a dark melody, driving their sinister point into your skull? I didn’t think so, and Steve’s real coup with the track is keeping the song just up tempo and sing-songy enough to give the listener a real “I’m kinda kidding but I’m really not kidding” nudge in the ribs.

After the first three tracks, the album can be divided into three definable groups: break-up songs, Steve’s life story, and the
unclassifiable. The first group is understandable, as the writing of Traveling took place as one longtime relationship ended and a new one began - which is presumably covered in the funky “I Believe” - but man, when he bridges the topics? Forget it. In “Haters Union”, he’s alternately talking about the lack of contact between a lost love and his old band... and his take on The Rugburns? “We were kinda funny / Like the Smothers brothers.” Genius.

Steve tackles his autobiography quite effectively in the sparse “Brief History Of My Life.” And as far as the unclassifiable songs go? Well, “Serve Me My Food” is delivered in a quiet and unexpected falsetto, while “Street Fighter’s Face” may just be the most depressing song I’ve ever heard in my life. The latter is the story of a soldier in Iraq that loses some limbs, and eventually his family and friends. No lyrical twists, no hope . . . just telling it like it is with an attention to detail that will make you squirm in your seat.

Traveling is all over the place on paper, but it plays through as one unified whole. It’s a fucking masterpiece of the genre, and it truly has to be heard to be believed. It’s not a one listen deal, either. Extra aspects become clearer with each play, but the songs are catchy and interesting enough that anyone would likely restart the album as soon as it ends anyway.

I’m not mincing words here: you absolutely need to hear Traveling by Steve Poltz.

- Marc