Album Review: "Lefty" by Divisadero

by Brad Roberts

Divisadero's newly re-released CD purports to be the story of the downfall of a boxer named Lefty. But its familiarity as the tale of a man who drives away those he loves and ends up broken and alone, makes it accessible to many. Books and plays and films have dealt with this subject often, and well, but I don't know if many record albums have.

 

Now Lefty is being re-released through JAXART and I thought I'd reassess an album I've been enjoying for a while now.  Last Tuesday night, May 26, Divisadero celebrated with a set at The Echo, opening for the Avi Buffalo residency and I believe they played the whole record.

 

Also brave is the determination of Divisadero to allow the subject matter to dictate the trajectory of the album. It's not cheery or particularly life-affirming, but it is honest and heartfelt. Now, I like happy music as much as the next person, but sad music has always stuck to my bones. Even as a kid I gravitated toward music that had the ability to move me to tears. Just as I preferred movies where everybody dies, from On the Beach to Bonnie and Clyde. The melancholy has always had a strong pull on my psychology.

So, Lefty happens to dovetail with my own particular tastes. Beginning with the haunted "Prologue" of the main theme, played on a lone harmonica, accompanied by a strummed guitar, a musical saw and some bells, the somber mood is established. They lure you into "The Boxer's Daughter" which replaces the ghostly atmosphere with some great chugging, locomotive rock that builds to a crescendo of loud, thrashing instruments, ferociously played. This was the number I walked into last Tuesday, May 26, at The Echo and it sounded magnificent.

 

 

 

There's a wide range of musical talent in this band, beginning with Mark Montesclaros' voice, which is that of a weary balladeer. His guitar leads the others as Pauline Lay straddles genres with classical, bluegrass and country on violin and cello, alternating as the music requires, often with moving results. Josh McCool on guitar and Brian Cosgrove on bass guitar add support to the sturdy sound and Josh's musical saw adds to the mood considerably. Mike Mitchell handles drums, rocking Divisadero like a powerhouse at times.

 

The next selections tell the middle of the story. A slow, sad tale of loss, "Lefty Goes Soft" is followed by "Lefty's Lament", a jaunty little Western tune, and an appropriately bluesey number, "Black and Blue", as the narrative follows Lefty's downward spiral. "The Fight" is the story's climax as told through a gauzy, retrospective haze. It delineates Lefty's fate as a boxer as he goes down in his last fight. The startling use of the song"Daisy" and it's unavoidable connection to HAL's death in 2001 adds another layer of poignancy and the screachy sound of a bow on guitar strings is nerve-tingling. You can almost see it in black and white and slow motion.

 

"Understand We Have No Understanding" is a rock and roll catharsis, like Lefty reassessing his life at the end, and it all comes crashing back in on him.  The crashing, fuzz-laden wall of noise is liberating to us as it feels like the dead weight of guilt being sloughed off.

 

"I Dreamt of the Apocalypse" is a funeral dirge featuring Mark Montesclaros' somnambulant vocal which winds the song down to a level established in the "Prologue", bringing the CD full circle.  I'm reading everything into this and maybe I'm way off base, but I thank Divisadero for making my brain work.

 

Also thanks to Ashley Jex and JAXART for re-releasing this treasure.  Excellent recording and engineering provide a full and rich sound. It's great to actually own the CD because the artwork and design by Mark Montesclaros and Josh McCool and the rest of the Divisadero gang is superb.