Sadness is a thorny crown, and it’s one we’d rather others wear besides ourselves. But the hard times come for us all eventually. When they do, you could do worse than seeking some lovely commiseration in the melancholia of Really Great’s sophomore album Be The Light On. It’s an uptempo indie rock popper that does the emotional handwringing thing, so you don’t have to.
The good news is that suffering in art is of a different order than suffering in life. In art, there’s always the prospect of catharsis, a sweet release. Artist and audience alike can roleplay misery before hitting the safety ejection button in the final act. The musician behind the moniker, Owen Harrelson, has been perfecting this trick at least as far back as their debut album So Far, No Good.
Be The Light On renews Harrelson’s membership among the melancholy, while exhibiting more musical control over how Really Great deploys the sadface emoji aesthetic as a band. Opening track “Story” sets the tone, foregrounding a brooding protagonist who overcomes self doubt to declare “I have to try.”
Try what, exactly? It’s not clear. But if the alternative is imploding into an effluvium of existential despair, then we’re clearly hitting some therapeutic milestones. The ecstatic doodlings of Jake Cardinal on lead guitar expose what the lyrics conceal at face value. Namely, there is a great amount of joy embedded into the songs on this album.
Harrelson keeps up the sadboi schtick while the band plays a sneaky counterpoint. Whether it’s the effervescent pop punk of “Streetlight,” the transcendent guitar solos of “Skateboard Amp,” the chirpy strumming of “Way Out,” or the funky rhythms of “Rescue From Without,” the emotional trajectory points – against all odds – upward.
For all the gloomy vamping, Really Great sees a light at the end of the tunnel. Be The Light On is not about escaping that tunnel of despair. It’s about the precious moment when you first realize that escape is possible. And what a beautiful moment that is.
