Posted 02/07/07

Beirut
Lon Gisland EP

Patrick Smith | contributing writer
psmith4@smcvt.edu

Last year Zach Condon became the latest indie child meant to save us all. His Beirut was different, interesting, and listeners could make as many links to Neutral Milk Hotel as they wanted. It sounded a little like NMH, and besides one of those guys helped Condon with Beirut. On top of that, there was some mythical story to it all: an American high school drop-out learning to play traditional Balkan music while in Europe. Huzzah.

Then, the backlash. He learned Balkan music in France, not in its natural environment. Should he be getting so much credit for ripping off another culture and using it as only artifice? Are we only listening to him because we are caught by how different it is from the music we know? Still, I loved it, and hoped he could give us something greater.

With this EP, he granted me that pleasure, and at the same time did himself a massive favor. These four new songs and one new version of “Scenic World” show development while sticking to what has worked already. From the very opening notes, it is recognizable as Beirut, but then we are surprised by the fact that we can almost fully understand lyrics. However, this doesn’t mean his disinterest in lyrics has changed, as two of the songs don’t have any.

“Elephant Gun” shows that not only can his lyrics be understood, but that maybe we would like to understand them more often. And as the song carries on, a suspicion creeps in. Something has changed here. The Balkan influence is still present, but something is different about it. After this, an instrumental carries us out, and into “Scenic World.”

On the debut it was a good song, fully covered in that artifice of the Balkan tradition. Here, it leaps forward and confirms what seemed to have changed. Condon has been learning. He has real talent; he doesn’t need to hide behind the newness that appropriating another culture can provide. Instead of being an artifice that is a little disappointing after a second thought, the traditional Balkan is now just one influence in his music. A strong influence, but it doesn’t dominate. It’s an organic part of the music. He lets other things in--there’s a different pace to the song, and different instruments. We again understand him, and his new, full, band provides support that he didn’t have before.

After this, another instrumental, this time with a funny name “Long Island Sound,” a little bit of word play from the man who doesn’t think lyrics are important. “Carousels” is another strong song, continuing in the direction of improvement. The EP turns into a statement that he is an artist, not just a young jerk stealing from other cultures to make himself sound better. This EP should do much to silence critics and solidify confidence in Beirut. Condon is as talented as people wanted him to be.