The Sleepy Jackson - Personality

Genre rock Publisher Astralwerks External Links Official The Sleepy Jackson Website Official Astralwerks Website

Lovers, the debut (and breakthrough) album by Australian purveyors of multi-layered pop The Sleepy Jackson (Luke Steele and his rotating band of backing musicians), was a pleasant surprise for me upon discovery - especially the healthy dose of garage rock that was "Vampire Racecourse" and the ethereal beauty of opening track "Good Dancers." I was a little late to that particular party, but the engaging moments Steele was able to conjure kept the album in semi-regular rotation for quite a long time and it is still a nice treat when these highlights pop up on shuffle from time to time. I did, however, get the feeling that Steele had it in him to put together a truly outstanding album that benefited from the inspiration he has drawn from several decades of airy, transcendent pop, ala George Harrison and the Beach Boys.

Unfortunately, Personality is not that album - very far from it. Rather than elevating his craft to an entirely new level, this release finds Steele consistently over-reaching his grasp and ruining nearly everything that made Lovers enjoyable. Taking another cue from Brian Wilson, The Sleepy Jackson set out to create an epic concept album full of nods to spirituality and huge, soaring choruses with lovely melodies and layered harmonies. Nearly every second of Personality is filled to the brim with moments that aspire to be larger than life and transcendent but end up overbearing and grating. The falsetto backing vocals and lighter than air melodies become so frequent and common that, rather than giving the music a dose of heightened drama at a key moment, they are rendered impotent halfway through the disc.

It seems that while Steele was quick to latch onto the sonic details and production techniques of the type of pop he worships so, he failed to note the moments of levity and subtlety that make them enduring classics. Pet Sounds isn't beautiful because it continuously hits the listener over the head with its great sounds, but because the moments of sonic bliss are balanced out by the simple sincerities that allow a listener to truly identify and connect with. Even if Steele is trying to convey similar universal truths about love, life, and faith - they are next to impossible to make out beneath the overwhelming production mess. It doesn't matter how many pretty sounding details are sprinkled over the top if the songs beneath aren't substantial enough to support them, you're left with all icing and no cake.

Personality isn't a complete waste, though. Several worthwhile moments manage to peek through the clutter and remind us that Steele is still a talented songwriter that knows his way around a hook or two. The throbbing bass and handclaps of "Play A Little Bit For Love" perk ears up towards the end of the disc before the typical vocal effects slide in to mess things up again. The track features an instrumental break that may be the most intriguing forty-five seconds of the album, featuring some weird merging of disco and early eighties prog-pop complete with whooshing synth lines and electric guitar. "Higher Than Hell" is another near-hit, updating the Phil Spector sound in a way similar to this year's Johnny Boy album, but not nearly as successful. And the moment when the horns kick in on "God Lead Your Soul" is truly blissful, but unfortunately those few seconds aren't enough to salvage the track or the album.

Hopefully Steele will be back on course with the next album and we can chalk this one up as a slight misstep in an otherwise respectable catalog. It wasn't a lack of trying that did The Sleepy Jackson in this time, but it was the simple act of trying way too hard that kept this from being all it could be. Steele needs to rely on his usually solid songwriting skills to put together a simply "great" album instead of striving for that "timeless classic" he seems so desperate for with Personality. As even a cursory listen to Lovers will reveal, Steele being Steele makes for a much more enjoyable listen than Steele trying to be the next Brian Wilson.