David Bazan has a rich history of self-sabotage. Over songs that flirted with emo and slowcore and flitted between acoustic lamentation and electrified frustration, he asked hard questions of religion, love, industry, and economy, snarling in a burly monotone. Still, it was catchy enough to be a close cousin of several ascendant Pacific Northwestern peers, and, as George W.
Pedro the Lion felt forever on the verge of a real breakthrough. Then, in , Bazan scrapped Pedro the Lion to spend the next 14 years releasing records under his own name. Former bandmates rose to fame with the likes of Death Cab for Cutie , Fleet Foxes , and the Shins , but he pressed ahead alone, the sour traces of those early songs curdling into words that could feel like blame games. Bazan has finally taken up the Pedro the Lion handle again, drafting a new rhythm section to play parts he wrote for another rock trio record, Phoenix.
Realizing that, almost 30 years since leaving Phoenix , he still toted around unpacked baggage from that period of his childhood, he decided Pedro the Lion was the platform for addressing those hang-ups. He was right. These 13 new songs at least scan like the old ones—a few distorted chords and some hard truths, barbed lines suspended between a baritone mumble and a broken tenor.
But on Phoenix , Bazan turns the mirror on himself in ways he never has, scouring a childhood spent in the Sonoran desert for a real understanding of his deepest flaws and most fundamental beliefs.
He sings this very late confession through a scrim of shame, asking for an apology but understanding he may not deserve it. In perhaps the most empathetic song of his career, he at least wants to acknowledge his adolescent impulse, how it hurt someone else, and how he can get better from here.
From end to end, he exposes old memories to new light, turning them around and around to understand how they built or corroded his core. The son of a pastor, Bazan was introduced to Christian music at an early age, which helps explain the Christian-influenced songwriting of much of Pedro the Lion's early output. Bazan formed the group in , mixing first-person narratives and nuanced indie rock with contributions from a rotating cast of musicians. Based in Seattle, the group released four albums, beginning with 's It's Hard to Find a Friend and concluding with 's Achilles Heel.
Bazan stopped using the name in early , but his musical aspirations continued with several other outfits, as well as a solo career. He also began recording his own solo material, and saw the release of a solo EP entitled Fewer Moving Parts. The album featured five songs, each one performed twice: first as a fully arranged song, and later in an acoustic rendition. Bazan even altered the songs' names depending on their arrangements.
Three years later, Bazan made his full-length solo debut with the release of Curse Your Branches. Issued on the Barsuk label, the album cracked the Billboard and received warm reviews. He hit the road after its release, recording one of his live performances -- an October set at the Electrical Audio studio in Chicago -- and releasing it in as Live at Electrical Audio.
The same touring band that appeared on the Electrical Audio album also performed on his second solo album, Strange Negotiations, issued during the early summer of Throughout this era, he continued to tour constantly, supporting his solo record and, in , he re-created Pedro the Lion's acclaimed album Control on-stage with his solo band in honor of its tenth anniversary.
Exhausted from such an extended period on the road, he sought a new project that would keep him at home for a while. His new venture was a limited-edition 7" single series called Bazan Monthly.
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