Salvage Enterprise by The Polyphonic Spree
While grunge was the loudest subgenre byproduct of the largely failed alternative-rock pseudo-revolution of the 1990s, a handful of upbeat indie-pop bands emerged from the roiling: the Flaming Lips, for example, are still a wide-eyed power to be respected.
The Polyphonic Spree emerged from a different kind of failure, which was the 1999 breakup of the Dallas alt-rock band Tripping Daisy; Tim DeLaughter generated orchestral-scale, large-chorus joy to deal with the death of guitarist Wes Berggren. That joy perpetuates itself again on Salvage Enterprise, the Spree’s fifth studio album and first collection of new material since 2013.
Across nine songs (each numbered as a “Section” in parentheses), the Spree elaborates upon that joy with other emotional complications: pensiveness against potential doubt in “Wishful, Brave, and True (Section 45),” relief from negative potentiality in “Shadows on the Hillside (Section 48),” wistfulness for change in “Winds of Summer (Section 51).”
The music further elaborates those emotions with the variety that can be expected from an ensemble that includes people who play Mellotron, pedal steel, trombone, viola, harp, flute, etc., along with a 16-member choir.
Instrumental and vocal variety inevitably lead to stylistic variety: “Give Me Everything (Section 46)” evokes the curious harmonic intimacy inside Simon & Garfunkel’s grander productions; “Galloping Seas (Section 44)” floats across a spacy psychedelic vibe from Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust days; and “Got Down to the Soul (Section 47)” combines the plaintiveness of the Jayhawks and the closing-time jollies of the Faces.
As a lead singer, DeLaughter is closer to Neil Young and Wayne Coyne (of the aforementioned Flaming Lips) than to David Bowie or Art Garfunkel. As a songwriter, however, he repeatedly feeds enough rich fuel to the rest of the Spree to elevate his quaver into the mystic place where childlike magic and wonder cope with adult loss.
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Stream or download Salvage Enterprise on Amazon here.
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