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'Neath the Puke Tree
Singer-Songwriter · 2000 · 5 tracks

'Neath the Puke Tree

Smog

Five tracks of skeletal folk and dry-eyed cynicism. Bill Callahan’s baritone anchors a world of tape hiss, jagged guitars, and domestic isolation.

December 12, 2000 · Spunk

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This EP is the sound of a room where the heating has just been turned off. It is a bridge between the more polished Dongs of Sevotion and the experimental grit of Rain on Lens, capturing Smog at his most unadorned and perhaps most honest. The production is startlingly dry; you can hear the wood of the guitar and the saliva in Callahan's mouth, creating an intimacy that feels almost intrusive. It is not pretty folk music; it is music that acknowledges the puke tree in the yard and the dust on the windowsill.

Tracklist · 5 Tracks
01
I Was a Stranger
3:32
02
Your Sweet Entrance
4:41
03
A Jar of Sand
3:42
04
Orion Obscured by Stars
5:17
05
Coacheecayoo
3:12
Moments Worth Listening For
the title track's sudden shift from a steady strum to a jarring, dissonant electric guitar stab
the way I Can't Rest uses a repetitive, almost hypnotic piano motif that feels like a ticking clock in an empty house
the stark silence between phrases in A Jar of Noises where you can hear the mechanical hum of the recording equipment
Where This Album DepartsEach spoke is a trait. The orange shape shows where this album pulls away from — or holds to — the rest of the artist’s catalogue. Tap for more.

How does 'Neath the Puke Tree sound next to the rest of Smog's catalogue?

Minimalist+0.7σ

The production is pushed a touch harder into minimalist than this artist usually allows.

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