Songs from Purgatory is a massive three-disc offering by
June Panic that assembles archived four-track recordings from 1991-1996. There are 48 tracks in all that beg questions of excess, self-indulgence, and the complete and utter dedication of the indie imprint Secretly Canadian to its artists.
Panic began recording for the label in 1999, and has since issued five full-lengths for them. Why they chose to release this monster is anybody's guess, but
Panic must have a group of true believers who've been clamoring for this stuff. Rather than break this all down, it's safe to say that these archival recordings have their own secret history. Done on four-track -- yes, long before Pro Tools -- these are homemade studio offerings with
Panic playing a load of the instruments on his own, and sometimes with other collaborators. None of the material has seen the proper light of day before. In fact, these tapes almost ceased to exist at all according to the liner notes. They were retrieved from a massive flood in Grand Forks North Dakota, from
Panic's parents' flooded basement, and restored using primitive but effective methods or re-soaking and cleaning in a cramped apartment kitchen in three pots!!! So with water first and then a solution of alcohol and water, they have been remastered by
Kramer, which eliminates the lion's share of tape hiss inherent in four-track cassette recordings. That said, they've lost none of their lo-fi charm and obnoxiousness. The music ranges from
Sebadoh-style indie rock, to loose, shambolic blasting pop to quirky ballads that remind one of
Simon Joyner (though without his own harrowingly beautiful vision -- where's his boxed set?) and everything in between.
Songs from Purgatory, which has its own pretentious and heady explanation in the liners by the artist, is an historic document in a manner that is larger than he is. It reveals a mindset and an M.O. pervasive in indie rock in America at a particular place in time. Though we are not far enough away from that period yet to have any real perspective hardly matters; it's there, it should be listened to in the context of that time. Because, to be truthful, there isn't anything here that really transcends it. It was recorded during a period in rock when anything was possible because nothing really was -- except for
Nirvana. For better and worse, this is the real thing. A lot of this stuff is simply pedestrian. Some of it is almost brilliant in the same way and feeling that
Elliott Smith's less mature early work is, and some of it begs more than a listen or two. Sure, this is a lot to take in for anybody. But, the fact that anybody went through this much effort just to keep a record of his own artistic life is both egocentric and admirable. There is meaning invested in this material for all that effort alone. And, as music, there is strangeness, charm, excess, ideas that don't work, and enough genuine rock & roll spirit to make it all worthwhile. For anyone who followed
June Panic, there is so much here to delight you, you would most likely never regret having purchased this. For those music freaks interested in the period, this is akin to having an archive to look into and look back onto and consider in reference to what else happened. There is great pleasure to be derived from taking this set in a disc at a time, and perhaps even ecstasy if you let yourself be bludgeoned with it all at once. Secretly Canadian, however, should be applauded and celebrated for putting its money, once again, where it has always been: behind the artist. ~ Thom Jurek