Review: Patrick Clark, “Spiraling Toward Madness”

Patrick Clark’s Spiraling Toward Madness may not offer anything in the way of subtlety as far as its title is concerned, but it’s nonetheless a title that bears a blank check of ambiguity—one that Clark makes out to the future. At what emotional cost? These songs chronicle the reeling, what-hit-me? aftermath of a broken relationship—one complicated by issues both geographical and mysterious. Much of Clark’s earlier work has a contents-under-pressure kind of leanness, which makes it interesting that Spiraling, at least musically, is all about spaciousness. In “Billy,” Clark employs summery horns strictly as coloring and spice rather than blowing them for their own sake. In this way, he channels the smooth soulfulness of Burt Bacharach and Paul Weller. Clark benefits from a musically upscale brass section, including trumpeter Steve Jankowski, trombonist Erick Storckman and sax player Tom Tinko. Though his ‘80s fixation is hard to miss, Clark’s songs don’t have the stale aura of MTV anthems—they simply reflect his formative influences, and in this way lend a retro flavor to a sound that’s fresh and contemporary. “I’m in Deep” drowns its dark lyrics in a pretty melody. “Turn the Volume Down” isn’t about saving one’s eardrums; it refers, of course, to the maddening volume of the voice of regret. Still, like most other tracks on Spiraling, it filters that torment through bright, well-produced music—in this case, the delivery is positively Tom Petty-ish.  “Nothing But One” is uncompromising rock’n’roll that doesn’t blare—it ingratiates. The album opener, “I Want to Be with You,” comes on mournfully and movingly, establishing a theme of blindsided heartbreak. From that point, Clark kicks the pain down the road, all the way to the last song, “Love in the Box,” which vaguely evokes Billy Joel’s “Piano Man.”  It ends the album on a note of tempered optimism, while acknowledging there’s pain in rebooting one’s heart.

Looking back at Clark’s music, it’s interesting to note that his earlier release, American Maid, seems to be a concept album (though at only seven songs, a mini one) about loving America, but with that patriotic passion streaked with despair. Clark’s lyrics resonate and beguile, running the gamut from literal and biographical to impressionistic. In pop music one can sing about love and war at the same time; or love of another person in the same breath as love for a higher power. Clark understands this. Still, if he didn’t have the melodies to back up his words, he might have ended up a hookless folk singer.

The production on American Maid is decidedly rich—shiny without being over-polished—and “Gather Round” kicks things off with a metallic parade of power chords. At times, Clark’s insistent vocals are something like Iggy Pop’s—albeit on a day when that skin-tight icon isn’t jumping into a crowd of punks or rubbing pieces of broken glass over his body. Yes, Clark is a nice guy—the kind of person you would introduce to your mother, not to drugs. And though he may not exactly wear his heart on his sleeve—at least not on this earlier release—he wears his blues on his collar. Tucked into the deep denim pocket of “All These Sad Songs” is a crumpled note of hopefulness. “Alone,” perhaps inadvertently, seems to channel primal-scream-era John Lennon—though in its rusticity resembles a chicken coop more than “Cold Turkey”. In American Maid, Clark works in a neo-populist realm that brings elements of Springsteen’s inverted patriotism to a melding of Tom Petty pop (the title track) and David Bowie darkness (“Don’t Save Me”). There are also strains of country-rock and a robotic whiff of ‘80s nostalgia. Wandering through a flash-mob of pop styles, his essence never gets lost or beaten into an imitative pulp.

Because he’s mainly known as a television personality, Clark the rock artist has had more to prove. With Maid in America and Spiraling Toward Madness, he’s shown that he can sing into a microphone as well as he speaks into one. On the latter album, he deals with love on its own terms, cleaning up the mess it’s left behind. In Maid in America, he ignores the do-not-disturb sign and changes the sheets of a sleeping giant.

The Patrick Clark Band plays the 10th Annual TOCO Family Festival on Saturday, September 10 at 2:15 p.m.