James Iha solo full of sap and fifth grade romance

Laren Rusin

James Iha

Let It Come Down

Virgin

I am not comparing James Iha's solo album, Let It Come Down, to anything The Smashing Pumpkins, Iha's current band, have done, do, or will do. Let's set that straight.

This album is not for the cynical. If you've followed Iha's work with the Pumpkins, you'll notice he's a sappy rock, lovesong kind of guy. Not in the Lou Barlow sense, because Barlow can get mad, and plays really loud. Iha takes that soft 'n' mellow route.

In interviews, he's described the album as comprised of lovesongs he's written on the road, a sort of reaction to touring with the Pumpkins and playing heavy music every night. The twangy, glitzy '70s shmaltzy feel works, but it quickly loses its originality.

The album feels like it's half slick and produced, and half like you're sitting in Iha's room listening to him lament. There are catchy moments, interesting guitar parts, and some organ and stringwork. It's well put together, and you can see Iha has planned out the songs, but none of them especially stand out from the rest.

"Country Girl" is the exception, with its lyrical bizzarreness. It starts out, "Hallejuah/ I'm in love with/ a girl from the country/ she's got no money." It's just so strange. But it catches the listener off-guard. Iha holds no pretense that his lyrics are mystical or that they insinuate anything not said upfront. In "No One's Gonna Hurt You," Iha sings "I know they hurt you/ Bruised and sore/ No one's gonna hurt you/ Anymore."

The first three songs feel like filler after the album progresses, because they feel less complex and thought-out. And while each track is pretty on its own, the acoustic arpeggios that begin every song begin to blend together.

"Winter" is probably the most interesting musically, because it sets a slightly different ambiance from the rest of the album. It's more moody and atmospheric, which stands out from the rest of the album's sound.

While Iha's composition is pleasing and fits together well, you can't help but notice that "Jealousy" sounds a little too much like Hanson's "MMMBop," or that the intro to "One and Two" sounds uncommonly like his intro to one of his Smashing Pumpkin's B-side, "Believe."

The album is pleasant to listen to in the background, because you get to ignore the lyrics and just let the music blend. While the instrumentation is well-done, Iha's lyrics are not his forte. He says the word "love" (or variations of the word) over 70 times in forty minutes, with "Lover, Lover" clocking in at 22 times, while "Be Strong Now" holds just one measly "love."

But Iha's voice has improved dramatcially over his recordings for Pumpkins B-sides and the one song, "Let Me Down," on the Pumpkin's Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. Veruca Salt's Nina Gordon has a strong, beautiful voice she gives to her backup vocals. The next step for Iha to take is to allow his vocals to carry a melody other than that of the lead guitar, to make the harmonies more complex.

A friend of mine was listening to the album and thought it was a perfect make-out album for fifteen-year-olds. I agree - it is alluring, soothing, and has a lovely bass rumble that surprises out of nowhere. That rumble, almost out of place in an album of love songs, is what redeems it. Iha is a talented musician, he's just too lovestruck to separate himself from his music which seems necessary here.