Smog: Dongs of Sevotion: so you want to be like me, eh Fred? Well, as you correctly surmise the only way to do that is to listen to a lot of SMOG. Here’s Pitchfork writing about their new album, which I found disappointing and in places even turgid – the loss of Jim O’Rourke as producer seems to have meant a levelling-out of Smog’s sound, and several tracks just wander around like a more bewildered Lou Reed.
Pitchfork’s reviewer would disagree – he gives it a 9.3, but makes it actually sound pretty dreadful by quoting a lot of Bill Callahan’s lyrics. I think Callahan is an excellent lyricist, but as with most funnymen it’s very much in the way he tells ’em.