Don't Wait For Christ to Come, There's Already Wisdom

*Appeared in April Issue of Calgary's BeatRoute Magazine

In the world of music, Austin, Texas is renowned as a hub of creativity. Over the years, the town has churned out countless artists with well-honed musical abilities and high degrees of authenticity.

On April 20^th, via Anti Records, a much anticipated, cross-generational collaboration of such artists is was released. One of the unsung heroes of the formulation of modern rock music, Roger Kynard “Roky” Erickson, has teamed up with one of the staple bands of American indie rock, Okkervil River, to produce his first new album in fourteen years. The result is True Love Cast Out All Evil, an album that is wrapped around an implicitly therapeutic feeling; that revolves around the gentle treatment of painful memories, and the remedial power of love and spirituality.

For many listeners who are drawn to the record because of the presence of Okkervil River as Erickson’s studio band, the artist’s life story is shocking, tragic, and inspirational – especially given the personal trauma that he has faced and overcome throughout the years. As a young man in the late 1960s, Roky Erickson and his band, the 13^th Floor Elevators, pioneered various elements of what is now referred to as garage rock. They were also one of the first groups to use the term ‘psychedelic’ to define their brand of music, and have been recognized by a wide range of sources and artists as a heavily influential force in the evolution of rock music.

In the midst of this creative context, Erickson became embroiled in the abuse of drugs, and was eventually arrested for possession of marijuana and incarcerated for three years in the Rusk State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. There, Erickson is said to have been subjected to experimental treatments as well as electroshock therapy. Afterwards, Erickson remained musically creative, but the experience had a lasting impact on his health and his life more generally.

More recently however, Roky Erickson has reportedly been making significant strides towards physical and mental rehabilitation, and the release of True Love Cast Out All Evil is certainly a part of this process. Produced by Okkervil River frontman Will Sheff, the record combines fragments of recordings both old and new, most interestingly including songs recorded during Erickson’s stay at Rusk State Hospital. Both the album opener, “Devotional Number One”, and final track “God is Everywhere” feature an Erickson with a clear and youthful voice, displaying a striking innocence and sweetness as the crackling sound is delivered over the sonic haziness provided by Sheff in the studio. For the remainder of the album, Erickson’s voice is like that sings like a parched, weathered old hero from the saloons of the Texas Range. This comforting and familiar sort of raspiness is especially evident on songs like “Please Judge”, where Erickson’s voice is front-and-centre in a minimalist and almost ghostly arrangements.

For the most part, one is confronted by two distinct stylistic streams when listening to this album. Firstly, songs like “Be and Bring Me Home,” “Ain’t Blues Too Sad”, and “Bring Back the Past” make use of the qualities of southern country-tinged for their sonic palettes. This musical tendency is really the predominant tilt of the album, giving Erickson room to emotionally provoke the listener by making the experience and sadness of his voice central to the delivery of the songs.

However, the album is at its strongest when both the tempo and volume are raised, as displayed on songs like “Goodbye Sweet Dream” and “John Lawman”. Here, Erickson and Okkervil River deliver on the second stylistic element, which falls squarely in the musical trajectory for which Erickson is considered widely influential. “John Lawman” features grimy echoes of guitar feedback and muscular power chord rhythms that add some welcome diversity and grit to an otherwise relatively sombre record. This allows the album to escape the possibility of being slightly inaccessible because of its length and the weight of its therapeutic melancholy.

That being said, True Love Cast Out All Evil is simply a powerful and moving collection of songs. Throughout the album, Okkervil River’s characteristically dark orientation and occasionally sinister inclinations blend with Erickson’s storied history to profound affect. During the song “Forever,” Erickson is seemingly singing of the intrinsic unity of everything in the universe while displaying his belief in beauty and goodness. When such sentiments are combined with the sounds of gentle strums and the echoing voice of a slide guitar, Erickson’s story becomes a heartwarming tale of perseverance, as well as an exemplary presentation of the soul-saving power of music and love.

Through the pairing of Erickson and Okkervil River, True Love Cast Out All Evil becomes a moving dichotomy of traditional and modern elements of American music. It is one of those rare records that, when listened to in the right frame of mind, is can effortlessly bring one through the most tender and emotive regions along the spectrum of human emotion.

Devotional Number One - Roky Erickson with Okkervil River

Goodbye Sweet Dream - Roky Erickson with Okkervil River