„Now I’m back on the 80, sign for Lake Berryessa / The Zodiac did a murder there, man, I’m obsessed with it / And yeah, a Hillside Strangler got married over there in Folsom Prison / I watched tons of videotapes on the guys and, yeah man, I’m fascinated with both of them / I drive down the 80, past San Pablo Dam / I used to pull catfish out of there in the summertime / Bring ‚em home and fry ‚em up in a pan / I drive down the 80, past Gentleman Jack / Past the C&H Sugar factory, crossing the Carquinez Bridge
Now I’m driving down the 80 / I see the yellow fruit stand / I’m gonna grab me a bag of oranges and some apples and a bag of pecans / Now I’m driving down the 50, past Pollock Pines / Got me a log cabin out there right on the snow line / And out on my acres, got me a pond of ducks / Kid goes fishing on my property, man / Good fucking luck / ‚Cause down in my pond, tied down with a ton of bricks / Is a dead guy bashed over the head with a guitar and stuck with an ice pick“
(The Highway Song)
Interessanterweise fand ich nie einen Zugang zu den Red House Painters, der ersten Band, die Mark Kozelek bekannt machte. Das war mir zu grau und trist. Aber seine Metamorphose zu Sun Kil Moon änderte alles. BENJI wurde zu einem meiner Lieblingsalben (Ian – the Necks come to your town!!! – is a huge fan of that album of grief and desaster, death and doom (and love of life), too!). Und dann dieses opus magnum. Atemraubend, wie Kozelek kleine Brüche, Risse, Abrisse, Schnitte in diese Tracks montiert. Das Album groovt wie der Teufel, wenn man den Groove entdeckt. Down the Shadowbahn. Unexpected moments of tenderness all the way through.
„On June 10th, 2016 / Burt Clossin turned himself into authorities unarmed and led police to the body of Dad Rock Slowhand Simpleton. Simpleton was an Eric Clapton impersonator who had recorded two albums in his forty-five years. He was known for embracing a musical style known as yacht rock or, in other circles, dad rock. Bert’s log cabin was subsequently searched. His walls were graffitied with the word „Loser.“ A small CD collection was found, including compact discs by Pete Yorn, Jet, Hot Hot Heat, Veruca Salt, Temple of the Dog, The Donnas, and Thirty Seconds to Mars. All CDs were still in the shrink wrap, unopened, except for Hot Hot Heat. Burt’s flip-phone was filled with texts to a 666 area code phone number. One to Louisiana prefix. All texts said, „Go away.“ His phone was also filled with photos of cats and payphones. The objects used to kill his victim were a ’59 reissued Les Paul guitar made by Epiphone and an antique ice pick bought at an Alameda flea market. No other weapons were found in the cabin. Other items collected were a 24-inch flat-screen TV, boxing blooper videotapes, a VCR, and sports clothing designed by Under Armour. Burt Clossin is now serving a triple life sentence plus five years for the death of Dad Rock Slowhand Simpleton in California’s Corcoran Prison. Burt claimed that his motive for the murder was triggered Simpleton’s singing voice, which, according to Burt, sounded too much like, quote, „The guy who sang „Wonderful Tonight.“ „Wonderful Tonight,“ an Eric Clapton ballad from the album Slowhand was Burt’s 7th grade sweetheart’s favorite song. „She dumped me,“ Burt told investigators, „for a rich kid with a pontoon boat.“
(The Highway Song)