Humor Risk
Cass McCombs is to release his second album this year, Humor Risk, on November 8th. Humor Risk was recorded in various homes and studios in California, New York, New Jersey and Chicago, and was produced by Cass McCombs and Ariel Rechtshaid, with whom he created Wit’s End, and before that, CATACOMBS. Humor Risk is an attempt at laughter instead of confusion, chaos instead of morality, or, as fellow Northern Californian Jack London said, “I would rather be ashes than dust!”. Musically, it is more rhythm-based, tempos swifter to nearly rocking, than the sparse Wit’s End. Infectious melodies are outlined by a wry lyricism that expresses the stories of characters from McCombs’ native land. Rather than fulfilling the stereotype of the confessional singer-songwriter, he describes the lifestyles and feelings of those that surround him, with more love than judgment: drugs, Scientology, Western America, and so on, in allegorical form. Humor Risk portrays yet another façade of this versatile, incredibly talented and much underrated artist.
Cass McCombs' sixth full-length (and second LP of 2011) plays less like an "album" and more like a "collection of songs." By his standards, Humor Risk is something of a laugh riot.
Cass McCombs has positioned Humor Risk as the relatively light-hearted companion to the darkly ravishing Wit’s End from earlier this year. Musically, that’s almost true—the pounding drums of “The Same Thing” and the strummy folk-pop of “Robin Egg Blue” are more immediate than the painfully introverted and emotionally…
It’s easy to say that so many singer-songwriters are introspective and write painfully honest lyrics, but sometimes an easy…
Cass McCombs 'Humor Risk' album review on Northern Transmissions. 'Humor Risk' by Cass McCombs is now available on Domino Records