HAMMERS & ANVILS - REVIEWS

From The Fix:

There's always been a sense of ceremony attached to the songs of Graeme Downes. This, the first solo album by the frontman and creative force behind The Verlaines, is an album with more shift and change in style than has been evident in the more recent Verlaines releases. Downes' lyrics and songcrafting prowess has always been a few rungs up the ladder from what is easily digestible by the average music listener - and to some extent this may have alienated his potential audience over the years. But there are some undeniably great moments here, moments that show a matured Downes in full swing, such as this line from 'Cole Porter' - "I've been plundering all of Cole Porter this morning to find me a rhyme half as beautiful as you". Hammers and Anvils is an intelligent, romanticised and highly literary work from one of New Zealand's unparalleled musical geniuses. -- Steven Shaw



From Aquariusrecords.org:

"Ah, the Verlaines. One of my favorite New Zealand bands of all time. In the early nineties they made music filled with intense Wedding Present-style strumming, and wailing minor key melodies that sounded so urgent and vital. This is the solo debut of the leader of Verlaines, Graeme Downes. And while he's mellowed out a little, replacing the frenzied guitar passages with more sedate musical accompaniment, the wistful melodies are still there, and hey, without the feedback you can really hear his voice, which is so yearning, so minor-key and solemn that it reminds me first of Mark Eitzel, then of Joel Phelps and Jeff Buckley..."



From Slipcue magazine:

"After an eight year hiatus, songsmith Downes shows that he is still in fine form, as dark-toned and intense as ever. He can still pull a jangle or two out of his pocket, but this is mostly very dense, rather pessimistic material, rough-hewn, highly individual and pleasantly grating rock balladry. Fans of Mark Eitzel, perhaps, might want to check this one out. "



From Pitchfork Media:

The title of this album might conjure images of a blacksmith plying his trade: pulling metal from a seething furnace and banging it into a useful shape. But as with any trade, the mark of a true craftsman is the ability to make the difficult seem effortless. In this light, Graeme Downes can be considered a craftsman as well. For Downes, his furnace is a piano and the sheet music scattered across his floor like dying sparks. We imagine Downes with a pencil wedged behind his ear, working diligently on song after song, trying to perfectly place each note on the pages. Over the course of fifteen years and six albums, Downes managed this impossible task with his old band, the Verlaines. Now, with Hammers & Anvils, he crafts these songs only for himself.

Out of all the Flying Nun Records alumni (including more influential groups like Tall Dwarfs, the Chills, and the Clean), the Verlaines were the most regal and refined. Sure, the songs would march along in that strum-happy fashion that became synonymous with the New Zealand underground, but then a string section or a vocal chorus would enter the fray, taking the song in an unexpected, wonderful direction. The best Verlaines songs combined Downes' two capital music influences: his academic musical studies (formerly a student of classical music, he's now a lecturer at New Zealand's Otago University), and his rock music roots. Regardless of whether the songs featured distorted guitars or oboes and clarinets, Downes' lyrical romanticism remained constant and fervent. Comparisons could be made between the Verlaines and the Wedding Present, but where David Gedge seethed and raged, Graeme Downes would sigh and swoon, even at his most frenzied.

Hammers and Anvils isn't much different from his Verlaines output, except for its lack of grandeur, which is easily explained by the fact that Graeme played all the instruments here (which include guitar, piano, trumpet, and clarinet) and co-produced the record. The milieus presented range from just Downes and his guitar (on the opening title track) to a full-band arrangement with a digital orchestral backing (on "Rock and Roll Hero").

Though there are a few aggressive, rockier numbers (like the band-like "Alright by Me" and "Cattle, Cars, and Chainsaws"), these are the exception. The solitary nature of this album is best exemplified in its quieter moments, like the piano balladry of "Mastercontrol," or the Tin Pan Alley saunter of "Cole Porter" and "Getting Out of It." Not surprisingly, it's in these quieter songs that Graeme's wary romanticism is best expressed-- in "Cole Porter," he confesses to be "like Fred Astaire with concrete in my shoes," while the ethereal "Shoreleave" offers a different sort of confession: "I'd trade the world and all its storms for four walls in your arms."

In some ways, Hammers and Anvils may be the most accomplished album of Downes' career. The range exhibited throughout these thirteen tracks shows the mind of a truly skilled craftsman at the top of his game. If there's a criticism that can be leveled at craftsmen, though, it's the fear of one's mastery overwhelming the desire that originally led them to pursue that craft. In this instance, there's no need to worry of such loss. But why take it from me, when Graeme says it himself:

Now don't try explaining
Why no love can change me
When the whitecaps drop diamonds
I gotta dive down to find them



Rating: 8.5

Reviewed by David Raposa, September 27th, 2001