You Fucken Sucker

by Paul de Jong

Overview

Paul de Jong's second solo album since the breakup of the beloved collage-pop duo the Books is a challenging, cathartic therapy session channeling years of frustration, alienation, confusion, and abuse. The sense of playfulness which was prominent in his earlier work is largely transformed into pitch-black humor, and during some moments, it expresses outright terror. As if the title doesn't tip it off already, there is a whole lot of cursing on this album. Not on every track, mind you, but the ones that do indulge in FCC-unfriendlies tend to go overboard. On tracks like the brief prog-metal thrasher "The Wind," the vocals are chopped up finely enough to resemble fast-forwarding compact discs, so it's not easy to discern what's being said anyway. Much more direct and confrontational is the downright disturbing "Breaking Up," which contains seven minutes of a woman shrieking obscenities and accusations over sparse, stark guitar plucking. There's also the glitch-folk title track, which alternates the lyrics of "Mary Had a Little Lamb" with an F-bomb-filled chorus, a juxtaposition of the innocent and the filthy reminiscent of Kimya Dawson. On the album's busiest tracks, de Jong's arrangements are as vivid and complex as ever, twisting colorful melodies and frenetic, choppy drumming into tightly wound, rapidly spinning audio constructions. On the flipside of these intense expressions of pent-up aggression and stress, there are minimalist pieces such as the dark ambient meditation "Pipe Dream" or the shimmering eight-minute mallet percussion drone "Wavehoven." It's easy to recognize how this album can be viewed as a reaction to years of accumulated personal issues and traumas, and it's powerful on a certain level, but on the whole, it's just not very easy to listen to or enjoy. Of course, that seems like the entire point. ~ Paul Simpson

Product Details

Release Date:	04/06/2018
Label:	Temporary Residence
UPC:	0656605329819
Rank:	160770

Tracks

1. Embowelment
2. It's Only About Sex
3. Doings
4. Dimples
5. The Wind
6. Almost Doomed
7. Doomed
8. Pipe Dream
9. You Fucken Sucker
10. Wavehoven
11. Goor
12. The Jar Bell
13. Johnny No Cash
14. Breaking Up

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Paul de Jong   Primary Artist
Margaret Lancaster   Flute
Jungle-H-Green   Vocals
Vera De Jong   Vocals
Jennifer Cavanaugh   Vocals
Sarah Steadman   Vocals
Richard Hohlstein   Vocals
Evan Thaler-Null   Percussion,Drums

Technical Credits

Paul de Jong   Composer,Producer
Steven Walcott   Mixing,Mastering