Booher

In a city where most of Austin’s lyrical depth is tied up in the postpunk and in the country scene (presumably), Austinite Michael Booher carves out a space of emotional literacy into a chronically indifferent scene, carving letters to a lost love like one would carve letters of fidelity into a playground tree.  Pensive and uplifting, debut album Funny Tears is all the fist pumping good times of an all-American band steeped in the golden age... More

In a city where most of Austin’s lyrical depth is tied up in the postpunk and in the country scene (presumably), Austinite Michael Booher carves out a space of emotional literacy into a chronically indifferent scene, carving letters to a lost love like one would carve letters of fidelity into a playground tree.  Pensive and uplifting, debut album Funny Tears is all the fist pumping good times of an all-American band steeped in the golden age of jagged catharsis –a continuation of the best days of storied alterna-something-something largely thought lost and not to be heard from again.  Carrying on the hallowed ground where Replacements, Pavement, Springsteen, American Music Club and the Afghan Whigs would pitch their tents for at least an evening, Funny Tears is satisfyingly tangled up in a man often at odds with himself, yet welcoming, warm and universal enough to pull in the most unlikely visitor. Or to pull up an old friend out of the dumps and tell them there’s always a way.   Booher’s songs written from a rollercoaster are all his own –the view from the top is thrilling, and the plummet into the uncertainty that grips us all is inspired and tugs more than a little on the heartstrings.  There’s a plan and a car outside/but we won’t ever leave/Raise a glass when the engine dies/just don’t change your mind starts “Find Out,” –a powerful waltzing confessional to another as the weight of an uncertain mind looms large and begins to add up. In struggle there is beauty, and beauty there is hope and a way through to tomorrow, with you, without you, it’ll be what it’ll be.   Clocked in at 37 minutes Funny Tears is as a celebration of life’s intricacies, foot-tapping stories filed from the frontlines of a rat maze that may or may not have any cheese.  Produced by Mike McCarthy (Spoon, And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead, Patty Griffin, Heartless Bastards), Funny Tears is a collection of short sharp rockers and big orchestrations –‘Ouroboros,’ ‘Autographin' Bibles,’ ‘Neighbor’ amid slow-builders ‘Funny Tears’ and ‘As Soon as I know.’ The songs are that of an inquisitive and restless observer, freed rather than burdened by the intensity of the experience, producing a level of layered creative instrumentation, vocal hooks and uncontrived meaning. -Paul Stinson Less