Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon
by Devendra Banhart

Album details

US: 25 September 2007 on XL Recordings
UK: 24 September 2007 on Beggars Banquet

The folkie’s fifth album includes contributions from Noah Georgeson (who co-produced), Vetiver’s Andy Cabic, The Black Crowes’ Chris Robinson, the Strokes’ Nick Valensi, Vashti Bunyan, Pete Newsom, and actor Gael Garcia Bernal.

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The critical consensus

Moving even further away from Banhart’s much sparser, home-recorded early output, Smokey is an eclectic album with a full band on most tracks, many guest contributors and vocals performed in multiple languages, but Artist Direct doesn’t see that as a drawback: "Despite this excess of ingredients, Smokey rarely feels scattered." BBC Collective, in fact, hears the performer moving in many new directions, to good effect: "It’s great to hear Banhart playing outside of type, and the swagger and muscle occasionally at work suit him surprisingly well." An approving Gigwise calls it "less hairy, fairy and freaky than before," apparently to great effect, although MusicOMH says that Banhart "remains open to the charge of being a ’60s throwback, an ersatz hippy and in need of editing." And not every critic is happy with the changes. Stylus says, "Banhart’s efforts to expand himself have left him woefully unable to play to his strengths in the rare occasions he bothers with them." And Drowned In Sound notes that "at points you’re left pining for the eccentric acoustic phrasings of yore."

PopMatters calls it "another very fine achievement" (though short of a classic), while Rolling Stone deems Smokey "his strongest music since 2004’s Nino Rojo, if not his best ever." However, many other critics temper their approval with a few reservations. Entertainment Weekly finds Smokey "too long and needlessly precious at times." NME also considers the album bloated, and determines, "At its best, this is subtle, touching, beautiful. At its worst, it’s meandering and smug. You’re entertained, but unsettled." Dusted seems to admire Banhart’s sense of adventure and is thus forgiving of moments that sag or are downright "embarassing," concluding, "It’s a little mad, a lot overstuffed, and probably a degree or two calculated. Still it’s intermittently very beautiful." Even Pitchfork complains about the runtime, noting that "in the context of the album, even the best pieces sag," and finding that the tracks that succeed are the ones that utilize simplicity.

Other critics were even less favorable. Blender complains that Banhart’s "counterfeit" ’60s sound comes off as too cutesy in places, while Brainwashed calls it a "middling" effort that "reaches neither the ecstatic heights obtained previously nor the jokey lows that plagued Cripple Crow." Stereogum is left bored by Smokey, and Slant is not fond of Banhart’s "almost entirely unsuccessful genre pastiches" calling the album a "tiresome spectacle." The Guardian deems the album "soulless" and hates Banhart’s voice: "When he’s mugging up, it’s unbearable; when he’s not, it’s unmemorable." The Washington Post finds Smokey "an exhausting exercise in eccentricity for its own sake" and adds, "With Banhart, even the short songs can go on too long." And Now hates the disc, calling it "the zoned-out noodling of someone who foolishly believes his own genius hype."

By all means, avoid the track "Shabop Shalom"–it was universally loathed by reviewers.

To complain about excesses or discontinuity or questionable judgment is to miss the whole point. This is Devendra Banhart … eclectic and whimsical and poking genres with a stick to see if they’ll bite.

- Jennifer Kelly, Dusted

Review roundup

Tracklisting and media

1. Cristobal
2. So Long Old Bean
3. Samba Vexillographica
4. Seahorse
   
5. Bad Girl
6. Seaside
7. Shabop Shalom
8. Tonada Yanomaminista
9. Rosa
10. Saved
11. Lover
12. Carmencita
13. Other Woman
14. Freely
15. I Remember
16. My Dearest Friend

Also on the web

• Official Artist Site
• Devendra Banhart @ MySpace