Codes and Secret Longing


Band: Raised by Swans
Album: Codes and Secret Longing
Best song: “Sandcastles” is the best.
Worst song: “I’m Still Inside You” is mediocre.

The connection of the movie Chloe to this record is two-part. First, Canadian filmaker Atom Egoyan is something of a fan of Raised by Swans, so he’s inserted them into the film, both in that the band has songs on the movie’s soundtrack and in that the titular character asks another character if he’s heard of the band. When he says no, she says “They’re really good. You’d like them.”

The second connection is simply a line from the film. Chloe explains within the film as to how she gets through her job as a high-end call girl. She says, essentially, that her job is to find the good within whoever. Each client has something good about him, whether it’s a big thing or a small thing.

In my experience, criticism is often like this. There are plenty of things to hate about any piece of art; no art — Dark Side of the Moon being the exception — is perfect. And, similarly, no piece of art — not even that horrific Katy Perry video for “California Gurls” — is completely bad. Nothing is that black and white.

So, often, a lot of inside baseball of criticism is that a key point in the writing/analysis process is to figure out which angle to take on the piece. As much as I hate the Red Hot Chili Peppers, I could’ve gone a different route on my piece on Blood Sugar Sex Magik. I could’ve picked something out of the record that I find enjoyable or emphasize how many records it sold or something. Nope. I went full-on polemic.

That’s a decision.

Which is to say that I wanted so desperately to enjoy Codes and Secret Longing. But, the album was mostly foregettable. Having heard Aereogramme before, I found the record to be a weak version of the last two Aereogramme records. Swirling emo and heartfelt vocals are worthwhile, but without the proper melodies, the album falls somewhat flat.

Still, “Sandcastles” is a wonderful piece of music with a lovely lyric. It’s got a shimmering guitar line, coupled with Eric Howden’s whisper voice using the beach as a love metaphor. “You keep holding on” fills the chorus pieces, actually sounding better than anything Aereogramme ever did.

Indeed, “Sandcastles” is the single thing on which to focus. It’s the best part of an otherwise mediocre record.

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  • About Me

    I'm Ross Jordan Gianfortune. I am not a writer, but I sometimes write here about music and my life. I live in Washington, DC.

    I used to review each of Rolling Stone Magazine's top 500 albums of all time. Now I'm writing about albums I own.

    My work has appeared in The Washington Post, The Gazette, The Atlantic, Sno-Cone and a bunch of defunct zines.

    You can contact me at rjgianfortune at gmail dot com.

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