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Feb. 8, 2012 at 2:29pm with 24 notes

Reblogged from oneweekoneband

Though the ostensible differences between Elliott Smith and the Softies are broad ones, their similarities are striking. Both Smith and the Softies lived in Portland for a time in the mid-’90s, with Smith playing with post-Fugazi rock act Heatmiser and beginning to release his haunting, intricate solo albums. Like Melberg after Tiger Trap, Smith took refuge in a quieter, more tender sound on albums such as Roman Candle and Elliott Smith, though his inspiration drew from the angst of Big Star and John Lennon’s solo work rather than the candy-coated love songs the Softies inverted. As lyricists, though, Smith and Melberg were certainly colleagues: both write ambiguous, open-ended songs about relationships shrouded by cloudy mystery. Smith’s couplets, too, avoided highbrow diction or flowery verse in favor of deceptively direct language and powerful metaphors. And both songwriters’ works seem to carry an inescapable air of sadness that, at its brightest, shifts to a sort of wounded optimism. That’s not to limit their artistry — just to recognize their perspectives.

More on One Week One Band, as well as my write-up of Winter Pageant, my favorite album ever, most of the time.