CD Review: Bright Eyes - Motion Sickness

Motion Sickness is both a special treat for devout fans and an accessible, defining introduction to the Oberst phenomenon. This new live disc, recorded from Bright Eyes' spring tour earlier this year in the wake of I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning and Digital Ash in a Digital Urn, contains a few older tunes, the strongest songs from I'm Wide Awake, the oft controversial "When the President Talks to God", and even a couple of covers.

Oberst wears his politics on his sleeve and boycotts the media giant Clear Channel Communications with zeal. As a result, Bright Eyes ends up playing theaters with plush seating instead of smoky clubs with beer-drenched dance floors. Motion Sicknesss somehow channels the atmosphere of these venues into the music. The live band attains a grandeur that is hidden under raw emotion and urgency in the studio. Perhaps, however, the band's size and diverse array of instruments causes the grandeur. When I saw Bright Eyes in Salt Lake City the band included a harp, slide guitar, upright bass, and trumpet. The band on Motion Sickness consists of seven members.

The live renditions of I'm Wide Awake material sound much like the studio versions, albeit with a bit more energy as exhibited by the frenzy and chaos of “Road to Joy.” He sheds most of his band for “Landlocked Blues” but throws all of his being into the tune, blowing away the live audience and probably at-home listeners too. It was my favorite track on I'm Wide Awake and it’s grown even stronger on Motion Sickness. His older songs, such as “Scale” from Fevers and Mirrors and “Make War” from Lifted, are reinvented on Motion Sickness. While they lose some of the famous Oberst intensity, they gain an accessibility that will please new listeners wary of that intensity.

Article Author: Jackson Smith

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