Nearly a decade ago Bad Religion's Greg Graffin released his first solo effort, the miscellaneous American Lesion (miscellaneous because you can only find it online), and it was a definite departure for the punk rock icon. He slowed it down quite a bit and explored a different side of his musical roots, as well as lyrical themes not present in Bad Religion songs. Cold as the Clay is not that different from American Lesion, yet at the same time it is, but it is definitely nothing like Bad Religion.
Instead of the legendary punk rock line-up that often backs Graffin up as he unleashes his frustrations with the world, Cold as the Clay finds him sitting on a stool with an acoustic guitar singing about American life in times long passed. There are two clear sides to this album: the smooth folk rock tracks on which three-fourths of Winnipeg's The Weakerthans back him up, and the stripped-down, old-time tracks where he is supported by traditional old-time musicians. Banjos, fiddles, mandolins and acoustic guitars all make appearances across the album to accent the themes present in Graffin's lyrics.
The songs with The Weakerthans backing Graffin up are going to be the most accessible for anyone that is a fan of his previous work, and perhaps those that are not. Tracks such as "Cold as the Clay" and "The Watchmaker's Dial" are beautifully arranged modern folk rock songs, and are the strongest tracks present on Cold as the Clay.
The old-time songs that co-exist with the folk rock tunes are the main reason fans of Bad Religion should not necessarily pick this album up, because it all depends on taste. If you are willing to give something that is definitely not relatable to punk music a chance, perhaps you will like it, but it takes a bit of time to get used to hearing Graffin sing as a plucking banjo dances behind his voice. The reason the songs were included was that Graffin wanted to pay tribute to old-time music and explore his roots with the recreations of songs like "Little Sadie" and "California Cotton Fields," songs that have been in existence for a long time but the original artists were unknown. The songs are not "bad" at all; they just are not anything that people would expect from Graffin. They are a bit catchy and definitely interesting, but they are nowhere near as easy to get into as the other songs. It is unfortunate that this makes for a record that has two clearly different sides. It flows as well as it can, but the disparity between songs like "Rebel's Goodbye" and "Talk About Suffering" is large, making the songs feel a bit disconnected from one another.
The two clearly divided sides of Cold as the Clay make for a tough album to listen to at first. The tracks with The Weakerthans are very strong, and definitely the most enjoyable on the album, but given time, you may find the old-time songs growing on you a bit. Admittedly, the songs would be very difficult to tolerate if Graffin's vocals were not so damn likeable, but although you probably will not be jumping up and running to the record store to buy albums filled with old-time songs, you may come away with a better appreciation for that time period of music represented on this album. Cold as the Clay is both a damn-fine folk rock album and a respectable homage to a period of music long past, and is clearly a demonstration of how much Graffin loves music.
