{"id":800,"date":"2014-01-29T09:48:23","date_gmt":"2014-01-29T14:48:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/?p=800"},"modified":"2014-02-04T09:34:37","modified_gmt":"2014-02-04T14:34:37","slug":"joel-rl-phelps-and-the-downer-trio-gala","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/joel-rl-phelps-and-the-downer-trio-gala\/","title":{"rendered":"Joel RL Phelps and The Downer Trio <br>Gala"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/joel_rl_phelps-gala.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-801\" alt=\"Joel RL Phelps and the Downer Trio, Gala\" src=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/joel_rl_phelps-gala.jpg\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/joel_rl_phelps-gala.jpg 250w, https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/joel_rl_phelps-gala-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/a>It\u2019s probably best that Joel RL Phelps albums come few and far between. They are generally unwieldy, sobering, depressing pieces of work. They take a while to ingest. A bitter pill? Perhaps that&#8217;s why we are talking about his latest, <i>Gala<\/i> (12XU), in the dread of winter, though it was released (strategically enough) at the dawn of autumn. Timing is everything as this album sticks to your bones. Three months after release, it&#8217;s still sticking.<\/p>\n<p>Anyone who can relate to the melancholy of early Silkworm should be at ease by what Phelps has become in his twilight years. He took all the emotional baggage of (arguably) Silkworm&#8217;s best records with him. Now, though, there are simply few bones left in his work. What bones are there are shaved to slivers. Dry, sparse, stinging\u2014he\u2019s still a sullen soul, but the spacious songs on <i>Gala<\/i> extinguish any curmudgeonly grudges extant in post-middle-age. \u201cSo You&#8217;ve Decided\u201d is the first of a handful of tracks that focus primarily on Phelps\u2019 search for salvation, using only an acoustic guitar and his distinctive voice to command attention. With those two elements alone, he makes a mockery of most everything done by Will Oldham by stripping his folk of any hokum. With the Downer Trio in tow, he rages cathartically, especially on the closing triumph, \u201cThank You and Goodnight,\u201d building scrap heaps of guitars and acerbic wit like a makeshift Crazy Horse borne of \u201990s grunge aesthetes.<\/p>\n<p><i>Gala<\/i> is certainly not for the faint of heart. There&#8217;s nothing overly chirpy, showy, or innovative, just enough emotional heft to allow his diehard base of fans an album to ruminate on for years. Those who like to wallow along probably find that \u201cExiting the Garden\u201d hits the hardest and the deepest. It\u2019s a song that feels like it runs twice its actual length. That\u2019s no slight; it speaks to Phelps ability to make his music seem suspended in time. \u201cArt thou creator? Art thou awake?\u201d Phelps sings. There&#8217;s a story being told, but it\u2019s also a direct question to the listener. Is your blood still pumping or have you given up? With <i>Gala<\/i>, Phelps answer is quite clear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s probably best that Joel RL Phelps albums come few and far between. They are generally unwieldy, sobering, depressing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[331,34,330],"class_list":["post-800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-12xu-records","tag-album-review","tag-joel-rl-phelps-and-the-downer-trio"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Joel RL Phelps and The Downer Trio Gala - The Agit Reader<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/joel-rl-phelps-and-the-downer-trio-gala\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Joel RL Phelps and The Downer Trio Gala - The Agit Reader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It&#039;s probably best that Joel RL Phelps albums come few and far between. They are generally unwieldy, sobering, depressing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/joel-rl-phelps-and-the-downer-trio-gala\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Agit Reader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheAgitReader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-01-29T14:48:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-02-04T14:34:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/joel_rl_phelps-gala.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kevin J. Ellliott\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@agitreader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@agitreader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kevin J. Ellliott\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/joel-rl-phelps-and-the-downer-trio-gala\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/joel-rl-phelps-and-the-downer-trio-gala\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kevin J. 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