The Airborne Toxic Event — Hollywood Park (5/22/20)
I discovered this California rock band in 2011. At that time in my life, I was working at a liquor store with satellite radio. The Alt Nation channel introduced me to so much great music. It was TATE’s single “Changing” that led me to their album All At Once.
The album was fine but didn’t leave enough of a mark and I ended up losing track of the band. They released three albums without my notice and came across my radar again with this release.
This album comes five years after their last and acts as a soundtrack to a memoir by the same name. It turns out frontman Mikel Jollett is a writer and he wrote this memoir, telling the story of his father’s life from his time in prison up to his death.
The memoir sounds a lot more interesting than I’m finding the music. Jollett’s father was incarcerated in Chino State Prison from 1963–66 before Jollett was born. His father then joined an experimental commune society called Synanon, which was initially a drug rehab program (he had a heroin addiction).
Turns out this Synanon organization became a violent cult and it’s where Jollett was born. He spent the first five years of his life in Synanon schools.
From what I’ve glanced, it sounds like Jollett had a dysfunctional childhood, and the memoir and the accompanying album touch on his experiences.
As for the music, it’s just too much for me. I appreciate the place these songs come from but they don’t engage me enough to keep my interest.
Hollywood Park was a horse-racing track in L.A. where Jollett and his father spent much of their time together. The opening title track makes it clear that Jollett cherishes the memories of his father who passed away in 2015.
The 6:30 runtime tells a thorough story of memories based around the track over a strong rock beat. It really is a sentimental look at memories and the passing of time but, like the album as a whole, is more focused on storytelling than on listenability.
There is so much emotion behind these songs and the content within them but it’s not coming through for me. Instead, I’m stuck with songs that on average reach near 5 minutes in length and have me struggling to sit through.
I will show appreciation for “All The Children.” It’s one song that gives me some sense of excitement. It does a great job of contrasting a slow verse with a much fuller chorus.
“All the children know if you jump you fall. And if you jump too high, you fall harder than before.”
The similarly titled “All These Engagements” is the other song that will have me coming back. It takes a look at love and what it’s meant to Jollett through the years.
The chorus is very urgent and is maybe the most passionate Jollett gets on the album as he basically screams about what I see as this desperate need to find true love.
This album has been in the works since his father’s death and there’s certainly lots of meaning behind it. Unfortunately, there’s not enough real substance to these songs to make me want to explore that meaning further.
