by Kris Handel (@khandel84)
Black Nash, the alias of Jody Smith, is a relatively new name to the music scene and this self-titled album follows his 2019 debut, Pope Innocent and the Sword of Compassion, released after serving in the military for half a decade. On his previous recordings, Smith worked in the vein of classic West Coast 60’s rock and Beach Boys adjacent psych-pop that covered his Mark Oliver-Everett-like nihilistic tales and stream of consciousness styled lyrics. The warped stories are still in abundance and though all of this is relative to what came before, slightly more grounded and not as weightily bleak. The sunshine-y psych pop that canvassed the debut is toned down a good notch here and in its place is a more folk/singer-songwriter approach with a nod to his past here and there.
“Alligator” is a slinky funk workout filled with freak out guitar lines that pierce through the fluid bass and rock-solid drumming. Smith plays with the loud soft dynamics by throwing in multiple pauses that pop up and act as a little interlude between the cascading noise, falsetto vocals, and the softer slinking funk pop that introduces the track. “Burn My Body Down” is a compelling yet very strange bit of songwriting that throws a lot of unanswered questioning and metaphors to create a very disorienting listen. Smith’s instrumentation careens and sputters, heightening the awkward oddities such as “…White religion stole my youth/said Mr. Miller/Leaning towards the girls/There’s only so much that I can take/of a naked girl talking to a snake/What kind of snake lives in that type of world?” put forth in the form of “Mr. Miller” as the main protagonist.
“On the Line” lurches with muted guitar blurts and Smith dropping his register to a husky hushed semi-whisper that is strangely seductive on this bare boned brooding track. Despite the sparse backing there is a saunter evident that exudes a slightly troubling confidence from the narrator, striking a menacing tone as guitars stab in the background. “It’s You” is another outright touching little song that closes the album out on a lovely upbeat note which is quite welcomed. Here Smith sounds outright ebullient no matter how fleeting the feeling may be, a departure from the norm established in previous works.
Smith never fails to subvert expectations with this record as it careens around and espouses a unique take on the inner and outside worlds that appear to the muse. He certainly has a very eccentric approach to the songs he writes, but it is never boring and really quite thrilling as a whole. This record travels many paths, some of them disturbing and others filled with a light that shines brightly and the contrasts are close to masterful. Smith’s musical world is one that is hard to fully comprehend but is equally rewarding and colorful in so many different ways and hopefully it stays so for a long time to come.