Insignificance
Are any of us alright? More importantly, what good are the distractions of rock music in the face of unending existential dread? Jim O’Rourke doesn’t answer this question so much as he plunges your face right into it with Insignificance, his second singer-songwriter album for Drag City. Recorded with members of Wilco, this is anxiety rock for the nervous and angry; oftentimes the lyrics get downright bitter and cruel (see “Memory Lane” with its litany of incredible insults such as “looking at you reminds me of looking at the sun/and how the blind are so damn lucky”) thrillingly tragic (“Get A Room” narrates a man given one day to live bringing someone home, only to slowly feel his body disintegrate while looking at the sleeping stranger in his bed) and all set to the lushest arrangements, most blistering rock, and most teeth chattering noise to hit you in 7 songs or less or no money back.
