Steve Gunn
Time Off
????1/2
Rock
Steve Gunn’s day job as guitarist in Kurt Vile’s backing band, The Violators, appears to have rubbed off on him. His newest album, Time Off, calls for many parallels to Vile’s latest (Wakin’ on a Pretty Daze) through the long lengths of the tracks, the solid songwriting and the eclectic instrumentation. Each track centers on Gunn’s stunning acoustic guitar work and the hypnotic rhythms of his guitar provide launching off points for the songs to dig in to a mood and then stretch out and explore it fully. The result is a fascinating and engaging record that provides six mood pieces perfect for relaxing summer evenings on the back porch.
The instrumentation throughout the record sticks to basics, featuring mostly guitars with occasional touches from cello and organ. Gunn’s vocals are secondary to the music, and they only stick around to provide a few philosophical musings before the songs echo out into country inspired dirges. The final two tracks on the record (“Old Strange” and “Trailways Ramble”) branch into a slightly Eastern inspired sound complete with cello drones and jangling guitar.
Perhaps the only drawback on Time Off is Gunn’s reluctance to untether the record from the dock and let it drift. I gravitate towards the longer pieces on Time Off, as Gunn’s country musings on “Lurker” and “Old Strange” mark them as centerpieces of the album’s master thesis on a life lived in the country. In contrast, the shorter tracks like “Water Wheel” and “New Decline” feel slightly underdeveloped, as if Gunn had cut them short of extended instrumental codas. But Time Off works so well as a whole that this is forgiven in light of the adept musicianship. And it is that musicianship and simple songwriting craft that begs you to take a load off, let yourself go, and just listen.
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