If former Thrush Hermit main man Joel Plaskett has spent much of his recording career kicking out the jams in a manner that dotingly recalls Big Star circa #1 Record, then this solo joint could serve as his I Am The Cosmos, the somber, weary classic by Big Star’s Chris Bell.
While Plaskett has demonstrated skill and passion for rocking hard (most recently heard on Truthfully, Truthfully, his previous album backed by his group the Emergency), La De Da finds the Halifax singer-guitarist amping down for a more introspective set. Mandolins, not fuzzed-up guitars, provide the instrumental counterpoint to Plaskett’s adenoidal but effective vocals (best heard on “Happy Now”, “Absent-Minded Melody” and “I Love This Town”).
While much of the album is delivered as internalized, self-reflective soliloquies, the finest number is “Lying On A Beach”. Plaskett adopts the voice of a captain of industry (“I work on the fifth floor/Where nothing is my fault/I take advice like margaritas/With a heavy grain of salt”), and we catch him fantasizing about his holidays — just like plain folks. Lest things get too moody, Plaskett turns up the heat with the mordant T. Rexisms of “Truth Be Told” and “Natural Disaster”, which threatens to tumble into Crazy Horse cliches but never quite gets there (which in this case, is a good thing).
“Let’s piss ’em off,” Plaskett is heard to speak off-mike at the album’s start. But it’s hard to imagine that being the result, unless it’s disappointment that the whole thing runs a mere 44 minutes.
