Mr. Smigielski surprised me with that Jay Reatard track—mainly because Jay Reatard surprised me with it too. As clean and bright as an Apple Store before opening time, it shows little of the chaos and feedback I associated with his earlier works. I got a little sad knowing that I had given up on his music before his final album, and he’d given up that path too.
“Before I Was Caught” is brimming with a sense of optimism that I kept coming back to, trying on dozens of songs in response. Nothing seemed quite joyful enough, until I poked my head into a folder I keep called “Best of 2011” and pulled up this track. Vetiver has a lot of low-key charm, which means their albums are mostly pleasant but a little blurry. But this is a true standout on their newest, Tight Knit, a muscular but uncluttered gem. I love everything about “Ride Ride Ride,” especially how it takes a minute for the tambourine to kick in and how the background singers—hinted at towards the end of “Before I Was Caught”—spring forward at the end. It seemed like the perfect penultimate track, relaxed and spacey, an acknowledgement of how far we’ve come and how far we have left.
m. joosse
