Some call Archer Prewitt an acquired taste. It’s not a hard fact to argue; his music straddles the indie-ness of the band he plays guitar for (Thrill Jockey stalwarts The Sea and Cake) and the comic books(Sof Boy) he draws. Coming from an exotica background (Prewitt started out in such exotic bands as the Coctails and the Bangtails), Prewitt infuses his first two albums with quirkiness, sometimes bordering on weirdness.
On Three, he has almost devoid himself of these quirks. Three is a straight-up lovesong album. The songs are almost all simple rock songs, and they all stay reliatvely short (only one song goes over 5:30)
If most people say that great art comes from sadness, Prewitt is not having any of that. From the sugar sweet lyric “Touchdown kiss and checking in tonight” in “Tear Me All Away” to the refrain “take it all away, sweet baby with another kiss” from “Atmosphere,” Prewitt is talking about love. There are few negative or neutral songs about love on this album (“Sister Ice” comes to mind); almost every song tells of “Sweet love, shines on like the sun” as “When I’m with You” tells.
Prewitt messes around a bit more with more traditional instruments on Three than he has on his previous work. The keyboard work is more prevalent, even echoing a young rascals-like organ on a few tracks (“When I’m with you” and “atmosphere” are the best for this) and working a harpsichord-type synth in “Tear Me All Away.”
The songwriting is similar, which is a fantastic thing. Instead of branching off into sparse arrangement like he did on 2000’s Gerrora Songs, Prewitt works rock-style arrangements into most songs. The slow-ish guest vocals of Nora O’Connor and Kelly Hogan make “Sister Ice” a delight and the simple guitars of “Two Can Play” make for fun, rambunctious songs. The bizarre quasi-time changes in “No Defense” is perfect for Prewitt’s voice, and is a real treat live.
Certainly, Three is not as excellent as White Sky, or as eclectic as In the Sun, but it is a fabulous album that doesn’t need to be sad.
- Ross Gianfortune
