Absentee - Weasel
[Memphis Industries]

Jaunty guitar. Gruff lead vocals. Cheeky backing vocals. Weasel will have you bopping around the room as Dan Michaelson growls out lyrics that are world-weary and observational in the style of a Vonnegut or Bukowski novel. We’re all animals, the world is, in general, a shit place, but for all that we might as well get it on. Right?

Ideally foreplay should last longer than 3 minutes 10, but Michaelson has such chutzpah that to complain would seem churlish.

B-side Les Mesaventures Sexuelles is more of a drone than a song. The laconic vocals are especially Waits-like in their heaviness (no wonder he’s a fan). The lyrical statement that “I’ve got my heart set on you”, for all the featherlite repetition of the backing vocals, is more a threat than a thrill. Like if your dad’s mate started singing it to you. Guitar, bass and drums, backed by a 70s brass section, bring the song to a meandering close.

Having fallen in love with Donkey Stock, I thought Absentee could do no wrong. This all only okay in comparison with their long playing work of genius, though.