The Life And Times "The Magician" (Stiff Slack)
By Lucas Salg
Friday. Dec 01, 1:00 AM
Far eclipsing the highest of expectations once again.

I’d like to add Allen Epley to a list that includes wine, scotch, and certain types of cheese: a list of things that only get better with age. Few songwriters are possessed of this quality; most of the ones I can think of mellow out, try too hard to recapture past glory, or fade away entirely. Good ol’ Al, on the other hand, keeps getting better and better, and if The Life And Times’ new EP The Magician is any indication, by the time he’s 50 he will probably cease to be human and become some sort of demigod that can shoot guitars out of his fingers.

With this far-too-short five-song disc, Epley has done what so many former frontmen of beloved bands fail to do: improve in almost every possible respect. By the time the majestic “The Sound of the Ground” rung out its final echo, I had stopped thinking of The Life And Times as Epley’s post-Shiner gig, and started thinking of them as an entirely separate and GREATER entity. Their breathtaking debut LP last year planted the seeds for something bigger and better than Shiner, and I’m happy to say those seeds have sprouted and we’ve got a real motherfucker of a band on our hands.

I don’t mean to slight the other members of the band by singing Epley’s praises from the rooftops, because everyone here is firing on all cylinders and it works beautifully. Chris Metcalf’s pounding percussion and Eric Abert’s rumbling bass working in tandem are truly a thing of beauty, providing the perfect rhythmic backdrop for the band’s celestial sonic explorations. But it is Epley who really shines here. His guitar work is unbelievably good, wringing melodies and progressions out of the instrument that other bands would or could not dare dream of. And I’m not talking about in a slapdash, The Mars Volta, “this chord progression doesn’t make any goddamn sense so it must be awesome” kind of way. Every thing here makes sense. And the lead guitar lines on “Ave Maria” and “The Sound of the Ground” are just jaw-droppingly good, lucid, and – dare I say – gorgeous, in a way that would have seemed unthinkable for Splay-era Shiner. The only complaint I have is that, at 22 minutes, The Magician’s just too fucking short. Waiting for the next LP is almost unbearable at this point.

When Shiner broke up back in 2003, I was devastated, as many people are when their favorite bands bite the dust. I sold my belongings and went into debt just to finance a trip to Kansas City to see their final gig. But I can say without reservation that The Life And Times have far eclipsed my highest expectations, and that Epley and company are doing the best work they’ve ever done. I still listen to Shiner. I love ‘em, always will. But The Life And Times are a better band, and The Magician is undisputable proof. You need this shit, right now.
www.thelifeandtimes.com
www.stiffslack.com
www.dischord.com

Lucas Salg

Got something constructive to say? By all means, rant away. Gonna blab about something unrelated and/or talk shit? Don't expect your comment to stick around.