Pattern-Seeking Animals: “Only Passing Through” (2022) – Album Review

Summary

Only Passing Through was our favorite album of 2022. It exemplifies the narrative and musical strengths that can emerge when bringing together the strongest elements from both pop/rock and progressive music. Here is where inventive musicianship, creative production, well-crafted songwriting, and lush vocal harmonies converge to produce songs that can be as melodically pleasing as any power-pop earworm, while seamlessly exploring and presenting thematic musical elements beyond the standard. The end result is a thrilling, cohesive, and wildly engaging piece of work.

Introduction

I mean, we’re all trying to figure this sh*t out, right?

Life, I mean. Existence. We are the only existential life forms on this planet (that we know of), cursed with the horrors of meta-consciousness. We’re born, we walk around a bit, skip over puddles, pick noses, figure out what do with ourselves, wonder what ever happened to Joanne, and then suddenly one day? Kaputski!

Hencewise, which is a word that does not and should not exist, current and former Spock’s Beard members Ted Leonard, Dave Meros, John Boegehold, and Jimmy Keegan named their band Pattern-Seeking Animals. That’s the purest descriptive distillation imaginable which encapsulates the previous paragraph.

All of that is a rather long-winded way to get to our review of Pattern-Seeking Animals’s third album Only Passing Through, and the reasons why we’re reviewing it today (11 months after its release) are entirely straightforward enough: (1) this blog didn’t exist 11 months ago, (2) you ask too many questions, and (3) Only Passing Through was our favorite album of 2022.

That’s right: Favorite Album of 2022. Not a hoax, not an imaginary story. This is the Real Deal with Bill McNeill.

In all seriousness, I cop to being more familiar with various Spock’s Beard spin-off bands and projects than I am with Spock’s Beard itself (I think I only own V and Snow if I recall correctly), and I also own (and enjoy) PSA’s previous album Prehensile Tales. I bring all of this up to reiterate how I’ll be evaluating this album as is, and not comparing it to three dozen other releases over the past decade or some such-as.

As such I arrived at Only Passing Through with little in terms of preconceived notions, other than seeing it on a lot of “Best Of” Prog lists for 2022 and hearing Scot from Prog Corner absolutely rave about the album.

(Go check out Prog Corner if you haven’t; Scott is wildly entertaining and knowledgeable about all things Prog. Plus cool beanies.)

So I gave Only Passing Through a listen online… and immediately bought the CD. This album hooked me immediately. I tend to eschew labels but this is what I like best about “Crossover Prog”: mixing elements of pop, rock, or metal with a strong progressive mindset, with the result being melodic, “accessible” (I loathe using that word when describing any type of art), diverse, and inventive.

There’s a constant exploration of a root theme: the workaday existential woes and wide-eyed contemplation of simply being. Do we have a soul, where are we going, should we just enjoy what we have, and why do we keep hooking each other up to car batteries when we’re angry in the first place? Forgive my glib delivery, because this light-years from the band’s wistful tone and introspective presentation. There is joyfulness here but there is also despair, and isn’t all of it indelibly attached to the human adventure?

Only Passing Through ruminates on these notions with a musical palette that is melodic, diverse, and inventive… and the end result is really, really good. So let’s get crackin’.

Review

Opening track “Everdark Mountain” kicks things off with a percussive rhythm so pervasively engaging, I half-expected someone to jump in rocking them Peruvian pan flutes. Only when time signatures begin running askance are we tipped into prog territory. “Everdark Mountain” personifies every last bit of isolation and social anxiety in a lush musical gravity well. Even the lifting bits of mandolin-like strings can’t elevate us from its pull. This is a powerful opener.

The infectiously punchy bassline of “I Can’t Stay Here Any More” is your basic entrapment; they’re purposefully enticing you into this opening mélange where the tango meets the volta, or some such delight. But with all of John Boegehold’s swirling synths, Ted Loenard’s atmospheric guitar lines and pleading vocals, or the musicality of Jimmy Keegan’s drum work, it’s Dave Meros’s crisp melodic bass propelling the song forward, at least during the faster first half the song.

The slower breakdown during the song’s second half takes the darkest elements of the album opener (the resounding defeat and desolation from “Everdark Mountain”) and refracts them through human determination, the spirit of will to change. It’s almost like a show-tune, juxtaposing the harmonic concordance of the music with this dark aftertaste, culminating in the steadfast refusal of the everyday nothing, the rejection of inertial pointlessness

And haven’t we all wanted to get the hell out of podunk the minute we were able to? None of us could stay there. Evolution, man.

“Time Has A Way” is the album’s “epic” track, a 13 minute rumination on time as the ultimate devourer. Certainly not a new theme by any stretch but art is never about the “what” but rather the “how”. PSA nails it here. is the album standout track, a powerful and enticing tune. It begins entirely busy, almost chaotic, slithering like a desert rattlesnake in a mad frolic. There’s frenzy on parade here, held in high relief against the tight musicianship from the band. The flamenco-inspired bridge with the Romani violin is inspired, instantly connecting with the listener on an almost reptilian level.

That’s really what hits. The individual elements, the keyboards, guitars, synths, pianos, that driving bassline, pinpoints of identifiable character amid a maelstrom of music. Throughout the chaos the song’s tempo ebbs, flows, pulling us in every possible direction until the vocals finally kick in around the 4:40 mark.

Here is where the central archetype makes his entrance: the lonely gunfighter, riding into town. Looking for something: a girl, a feeling, something left behind and devoured by history long ago. Time doesn’t even live there any more; she doesn’t love there either. What he’s been chasing was lost to oblivion.

“Time Has A Way” ends with a darker, slower, more incisive shift. The orchestrations swirl about us, like chronological mists asserting themselves as the ultimate nullifiers. The ultimate gravedigger. This is where the album wears its prog verisimilitude high on its sleeve. It is probably the least “accessible” track (ugh) but it’s a powerhouse.

“Rock Paper Scissors” is the album’s first “single”, if we can call it that. I would hearken to say it’s probably not one of my favorite album tracks. I appreciate the musical-box opening, a childlike door into summer. It’s soft and circular like a rhythmic refrain punctuated by toy soldier drumbeats. The song is slower, perhaps a tad bit too on-the-nose in subject matter vis-a-vis how our childhood games devolve into these insatiable adult power voids. Time, again, seemingly destroying everything, while we’re left spinning in circles and searching for truth.

I think the ambition outpaces the delivery, but “Rock Paper Scissors” is an agreeable tune. I want to call out the chorus, in which the “Rock, paper, scissors” refrain almost sounds like a children’s choir… which makes the sadly undeniable adult delivery that much creepier. And heartbreaking.

“Much Ado”… is that a hint of Skynyrd in that rockin’ opening riff? Whatever it is, it succeeds, especially with that classical guitar contraponto. This rocker flirts with classic rock tropes but strips them off their decaying cliches, lending the song a strong sense of familiarity. But not the type that breeds contempt; more like empathetic resonance. Again I have to call out the chorus, which is reminiscent of some vintage 70s Kansas with its wall of vocal harmony. Many voices screaming out in isolation — together. The irony is thickly sliced.

With the album’s title track, we get a bit of a rope-a-dope. It opens with a somewhat mournful piano line, filtered through some off-putting modulation, like a deflated pianist trying to find meaning in single keystrokes. The vocal introduction reinforces this melancholic unease… until it totally doesn’t.

The song explodes with impulsive positivity, maybe not quite joyfulness, but the peaceful acceptance of and surrender to transience. Each life on this planet has a retirement date; existence is limited-time only deal! So go ahead and launch yourself into the sky with wild abandon. Or as Rumi put it: we’re all born with wings, so why crawl through life?

Eventually we’ll all crash to the ground anyhow, and yet the sky continues. What a great song.

“Said The Stranger” could be the lost soundtrack to a deleted scene from Jodorowsky’s El Topo. I mean here we have a cinematic western opening, at which I’d hate to throw the standardized Enrico Morricone reference except that I just did. Damn it.

But cinematic is an apt comparison. A stage is set in which you could basically swap Apollo and Dionysus from Rush’s Hemispheres cover with the Gunfighter and a Pilgrim featured here. Only with significantly less bowler hats and butt-nekkidity. Unless you’re into that sort of thing… ANYWAY as Surf Guitar meets Hammond Organ, Cowboy and Pilgrim debate the cosmic fireballs of whether or not it is more essential to listen to the pain of the world, the laments/regrets of the long since dead, or is it better to listen to the wind, the spirit within, the eternity of the soul, perhaps a Creator itself?

As the debate unfurls, each character reinforced by musical expression. The music is more focused, aligned, and cohesive when the Pilgrim manifests calm reason. The Cowboy’s moments are louder, punchier, more dynamic, more epic. And this dichotomy drives the song to our deep satisfaction.

The album proper ends with “Here With You With Me”, which is an easygoing pop tonic, almost like a reassurance of sorts. Is it actually flirting with Yacht Rock for a moment or two there? Sounds a bit like it to me. Hints of Toto-like musicality, with its crisp production alongside enticing vocal harmonies. There’s more than a bit of Steely Dan in some of the guitar fills and sitar tones, along with some percussive silkiness over the verses. This is a love song and dare I say, a sexy one? Your mileage, as always, may vary, but this is a commanding closer.

The two bonus tracks start with “I’m Not Alright”, which is an effective ballad (or slow rocker) of sorts. A flute-driven minor key opening toys with our expectations, as structurally the song is more in line with an 80s rock tune than some Ian Anderson contemplation. I won’t say the words “power ballad” because the aproposity is nil, but then it’s not all that far from that neighborhood either. But I do love this track. For what it’s doing, it’s doing really well.

“Aproposity” is also not a word. I’m 0 for 2.

The second bonus track is the bubbly amd joyful-sounding “Just Another Day At The Beach”, and while it might not quite hang with the “proper” album tracks in terms as album cohesion, it’s such a delightful B-side. I love it. It’s effervescent! At least it is musically; lyrically, it’s a lament over the looming end of a doomed relationship. But oh, delivered with such pep!

And in closing…

Only Passing Through won me over in a single listen, and in the course of this review I’ve poured over it at least three more times. The album is so entirely engaging and beautiful recorded, sequenced, and rendered, with never a moment of flab or redundancy. If the conceptual theme has been done before, the delivery of it here easily merits the presentation. And that presentation therein succeeds.

Perhaps those looking for more challenging progressive permutations may scoff, whereas those who value easygoing melodic simplicity might be turned off by drastic zigs overtaking expected zags. Eesh. But for those of us somewhere between those two poles, Only Passing Through is a work of beauty, a musical expression that can go from chilling to joyous to pragmatic with harmoniously inventive resolution.

What similar albums does ChatGPT recommend?

While it behooves me to remind my readers that everything you just read is 100% Mills, let’s ask our friendly neighborhood AI for some similar album recommendations.

“Only Passing Through” by Pattern-Seeking Animals is an excellent progressive rock album. Here are five other albums that you may enjoy if you like this style of music:

1. “Aquarius” by Haken: This album features intricate melodies and complex rhythms similar to those found in “Only Passing Through.” The musicianship and songwriting are both top-notch.

2. “The Similitude of a Dream” by The Neal Morse Band: This double album is a sprawling progressive rock epic with a strong narrative thread. The musicianship and production are both top-notch, and the album is full of memorable melodies and impressive instrumental sections.

3. “The Source” by Ayreon: This album tells the story of the creation of the universe and features a cast of talented vocalists and musicians. The music is complex and varied, incorporating elements of progressive rock, metal, and symphonic music.

4. “Hand. Cannot. Erase.” by Steven Wilson: This album is a concept album that tells the story of a woman named Joyce who becomes isolated from society. The music is intricate and atmospheric, incorporating elements of progressive rock, electronic music, and jazz.

5. “Language” by The Contortionist: This album features a blend of heavy riffs, intricate melodies, and complex rhythms similar to those found in “Only Passing Through.” The musicianship and production are both excellent, and the album is full of memorable melodies and impressive instrumental sections.

Output from ChatGPT, OpenAI to Mills, 28 March 2023.