Minneapolis gang’s side projectstill breathes fresh air
Compare Golden Smog to Wilburys if you
must, but this alleged supergroup (variously Uncle Tupelo/Wilco’s
Jeff Tweedy, the Jayhawks’ Gary Louris and Marc Perlman, Soul
Asylum’s Dan Murphy, Run Westy Run’s Kraig Johnson, the
Honeydogs’ Noah Levy, Big Star’s Jody Stephens and the
Replacements’ Chris Mars), never suffered from overproduction—or even much collective fame. Named after Fred Flintstone’s “Golden
Smog” parody of Mel Tormé’s “Velvet Fog” nickname, the
Smog has, however, rolled out songs so full of multi-tiered
harmonies, gorgeous 12-string Rickenbacker chords (is there a sweeter
sound in rock ‘n’ roll?) and good-humored looseness, you’ll
feel compelled to sing along.
“Until You Came Along,” “V,” “Pecan Pie,” “Looking
Forward to Seeing You,” “To Call My Own” (with its
“tit-tit-tit” nod to the Beatles’ “Girl”)—why these
cuts couldn’t work in the guys’ respective bands is unclear, but
this best-of offering is the whipped cream on a Smog-lover’s piece
of pecan pie.