Mike Coykendall
The Unbearable Being of Likeness
(Field Hymns)
Rating: 3 of 5
The last five years proving he has kept quite busy in the recording studio with fellow Portlanders M. Ward, Richmond Fontaine, and Blitzen Trapper, Mike Coykendall is ready to do his own thing his own way again. Regarding a follow-up solo release (Hello Hello Hello that came out in 2005), he had not found the time until presently. Now hitting with The Unbearable Being of Likeness, he has squeezed out 33 minutes of collected songs and miscellany into a rousing, slightly psyched-out affair. But with repeated listens, it seems to come off a little more like egoism and borrowed semblance. Even the everted wordplay of the album title filches from Paul Westerberg-like jadedness.
The space-trip takes flight with the steam-gathering “Good One” and the subsequent nod to Spoon, the kaleidoscopic “Luna Mama Less Dip”. There is an appreciated attention paid to the order of the tracklisting here, with each different style interlocking like a dovetail joint. The paranoia of “It’s Raining Inside” is put to rest by the easy-going laziness of “Spacebaker Blues”. The mishmash of tracks like “Disco Next Door w/ Clicker” (complete with an Ebow-ed electric guitar quote of the ‘rum-pum-pum-pum’ bridge of “Little Drummer Boy) and the jovial moxie of “Flatlands” sets up for his more heartfelt offerings. These are the pinnacle moments, such as the tender and winsome “First Shot, Best Shot” or how the reverberated drones of “Something To Chew On” seem to lead befittingly into the beautiful and melancholy “Wonderland”—the album’s highlight and closer.
Songs like “Sold Your Closet Paintings” and “Bye-Bye-Baby-O” serve as enjoyable and carefree laugh-offs. It goes to show that sometimes all you need are a few sparse piano notes to complement the material. But no one is going to stop Coykendall from fiddling behind the control board this time.
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