Comet Gain are rather a mess. Their guitars clang and clatter. Their vocals are raw and unadorned. Their songs don’t always follow a clear path to completion. But, the most charming part of their charming turmoil is their lyrics, which seem to blend mixed metaphors, heartfelt confessions, and confusing phrases all together. The new album is called Fireraisers Forever!, and It’s quite a fitting title, as Comet Gain have made their most punkish yet uplifting record in their career. It offers most of what they always have, but there is a noticeable tweak in the construction of many of the songs. In contrast to the opaque lyrics throughout, many of these songs offer a clear, concise chorus with triumphant mantras. It just feels good.
Comet Gain have been around for 25 years, but they don’t have a single bad record. They’re a band you can put on shuffle, and outside of some sonic differences, you’ll be hard-pressed to distinguish the years. There are a few small distinctions, of course. Their sonics were a little less punishing in their earlier years, with their 1990s albums Casino Classics and Magnetic Poetry. The band became more fuzzy and loud for their ‘comeback’ albums in the 2000s: Realistes and Howl of the Lonely Crowd. And lastly, their 2014 record, Paperback Ghosts played with acoustics a little more and sounds a little more like a coffee shop in spots. All this leads to their most clear record to date: Fireraisers Forever!
Like most people of the world right now, the members of Comet Gain seem to have a knot in their stomach that they’re trying to break loose. Their method is loud guitar, keyboards, and distorted vocals. The album begins with the nastiest guitar tone in recent memory, and the song speaks for itself, “We’re All Fucking Morons”. The second track, “The Girl With the Melted Mind and the Fear of the Open Door”, plays like some dark, deeply hidden 1960s psychedelic track, but “Bad Night at the Mustache” is where the best begins. Cloudy lyrics aside, the chorus absolutely smashes in the room with a million-dollar earworm, and these lyrics: “Cauterize the wounds our stupidity has caused us.” It’s angry bubblegum.
Other songs continue this: songs like “Mid 8T’s” and “Your Life on Your Knees”. Yet, Comet Gain offer up much more here as well. “Society of Inner Nothing” is a sad song with the upbeat feel of the Clean. “The Godfrey Brothers” offers up a heartfelt tribute to the masterminds behind the experimental group, the Swell Maps.
The final track is called “I Can’t Live Here Anymore”, and it’s pretty. As expected from this band, though, there’s a subversion to the lyrics. On the back end of the song, what sounds like a toddler helps sing the chorus lyrics of “I can’t live here anymore.” It’s ironic, to say the least, as a youth truly has no choice in their living quarters. Then this is offered up: “When the world turns all around us if there’s no tomorrow, I’ll be hanging on to you.” It’s a tender way to end an angry record, but it makes sense. What in the world can truly relieve that knot in your stomach? Family, friends, your band, all those good connections.