Starting out small amid lapping waves of noise, The Mass Exodus From California begins contemplative, as if preparing for something large and grandiose. 52 minutes later, as it ends amid ambient city noise, it’s apparent you’ve witnessed something fantastic, but wonders what all the fuss was about. A steady diet of jazzy guitar and organ feed the melodies that veer from standard indie pop rhythms. Designed as a concept album, this relates the difficulty leaving a place that’s comfortable and settling in an unfamiliar place. In a sense, it’s taken from the heart as lone member Jerry Chen, from the now-defunct California-based Grand Unified Theory, picked up and moved to the Northeast. The album replicates various moods and musical ideas and never overtly tells the listener exactly what to feel. For example, “The Birth of a Salesman” is a pseudo-cheery romp with hard-edged guitar parts and upbeat drumming. But the lyrics describe what happens when you buy into commercialism, “you are what they’ve sold you know / so do what they tell you now.” Chen sort-of juxtaposes a bit of defeatist attitudes over an indie pop song. It’s an engaging listen that poses a challenge and kicks around a bit of satire. The production is clean, it’s not too polished, it’s got bit of a matte finish that highlights the music in an organized mix that emphasizes the extraneous elements (i.e. the slide guitar in “The Architect’s Song” and the warm cello on “A Televangelist’s Song”) but gives the vocals and guitar proper attention. The Mass Exodus is an absorbing listen. Lyrics are poignant and the melodies are memorable. Chen has absorbed and recreated the best of latter-day Yo La Tengo and Bright Eyes but has managed to keep his own musical expressions in place. The end piece, a suite of three compositions (a song, an ambient piece, a final song) provides a solid cornerstone to a solid album.
- Adam Crepeau
North East Performer
April, 2005