“Another Afterlife” by It’s True | CD Review

by Cory Kibler

* Photo by Daniel Muller

If you’re a music critic, there's nothing more aggravating than when a local record totally lives up to its own zany hype.

A music critic's job is to describe music objectively. If a piece of music doesn’t really have any noticeable flaws, a review can end up looking like a journalistic “handy," and this can be discrediting. But inventing flaws just to sound like I'm being fair would be even worse. So at the risk of losing credibility for the sake of transparency:

Another Afterlife is fucking amazing. Dear It’s True: come get your handy.

Unlike a lot of local music fans, I hadn't really heard It’s True before listening to Another Afterlife. I tried to watch their music video (below), but my computer at home has trouble with Minesweeper, so I had to give it up. I missed the boat at first. But I'm making up for it: I’ve had Another Afterlife on repeat ever since I received it from the HearNebraska headquarters (secretly located in space, shhhhhhh).

I think the band is calling it an EP, a term with nebulous parameters. The record is just a few seconds under 30 minutes, but to me, it acts like an album. I think EPs say something like, “Hey, this is a sample of what we can do,” and an LP says “Hey! Look at all that we can do!” Another Afterlife does the latter. It is a complete musical experience.

On Another Afterlife, It’s True plays big, lush folk-rock songs performed mainly by Hawkins, who "played what [he] could and had some friends fill in the gaps." It was recorded and mixed at the home studio of Jeremy Garrett, soundman at The Waiting Room. Sometimes, the recording processes for records (even great records) are arduous and contentious, but according to Hawkins, recording Another Afterlife was a positive experience: "[I] definitely need to make sure I mention how great it was to work with [Garrett] and how pleased I am with the results."

Sometimes, the songs are small and slight and filled with delicate melodies. Othertimes, they're chaotic, with war-drums and thunderous pianos off in the distance. No matter what’s going on with the instruments, it’s all grand and ideal and beautiful. The attention to detail here is incredible — both the instrumentation and the production. Unassuming riffs and playful rhythms casually drop in, adding layer after layer of musical depth. It’s never too much, either. I'm highly sensitive to overproduced music, and tend to get bummed out at the slightest hint of unnecessary sonic ruckus. On this record, Garrett and It’s True manage to dip each song in a glorious blissful sheen without disparaging the songs’ character. Simply put, they nailed the fuck out of it.

I think it’s telling that even the weird shit works. “Western Soundtrack” features whistling instead of lyrics. That kind of thing looks terrible on paper. “Oh man, you’re going to love this song! There’s no singing, just whistling!” But they make it work wonderfully. “303” is another example: It’s just soft, haunting notes vibrating all over the place for two-and-a-half minutes. That’s the kind of stuff I normally hate, but again, they pull it off. Even “I Don’t Want to Be the One” succeeds, despite the doofiness of its verse-lyrics:

I looked at the clock and saw that I was late, and I had myself some kind of date

The last word in that line might be “day,” but either way, these are usually the kind of lyrics that make me want to yak down my shirt. This particular line is even sung in that Dylan-esque conversational way. But then, after a few listens, it’s perfect. You get to the chorus (I don’t want to be the one who lets you down) and through the bridge, and it just comes together, and you’re like, “Daaaaaang, it IS true!”

(Watch the Love Drunk video, featuring It's True playing "Nothing At All.")

It doesn't sound like It’s True is after fame or glory or a billion dollars. "This is a hodge-podge operation we have here. No plans … no expectations … no strategies. It's just two shows and an album," Hawkins says. "After that … we'll return to hiding." So it sounds like if you want to see It's True in the flesh, this weekend might be your last chance. It would be a shame if this record didn’t reach a wider audience than just Omaha/Lincoln, but that kind of thing happens all the time in every music scene. So it goes. Here's a link to the CD Release info.

Even if this album doesn't reach the masses, you're reading this review, and so you have no excuse not to at least check it out. I mean, unless you have some sort of strange pet-peeve (“I hate a bassist with a keen understanding of transubstantiation!”), this record is worth your time (even if it IS ultimately very aggravating).

Cory Kibler grew up in Ventura, Calif., and Colorado Springs, Colo., before coming to Nebraska for college and graduate school in 2000. He has slowly transformed into a Nebraskan, which left a mess. He plays music as a solo artist and with The Sleepover, and he has played in the past with such bands as Shacker and Robot Creep Closer. He enjoys creative writing and news writing, and has written for various publications and news outlets. In his private, alone-time, he is a retired professional comedian and pet-enthusiast. He his married and has four small animals living in his home, rent-free. Finally, he helps run netlabel Mr. Furious Records with his friend C. Howie Howard. You can contact him at cory.kibler@gmail.com. He misses you. So bad.