April 2020 was sucky beyond comprehension, but it brought two music releases that are further depleting our country’s precarious toilet paper supply. Fiona Apple’s new album is every bit as good as Pitchfork , Rolling Stone, Time, NPR, the New York Times, and Paste say it is. Fetch the Bolt Cutters if you’re starting to feel like you’ve been here too long.
This post is about the other release that’s been bouncing around my cortices the last two weeks: “Ghosts of America” by the aptly named Sincere Gifts. Sincere Gifts is the latest project by one of my favorite musicians, and people, Nick Byron Campbell. Last week, Nick teamed up with estranged collaborator Ben Wigler to drop a scathing little jingle, Ghosts of America, that I can only describe as demon Americana.
In honor of his new release, this week’s post revisits my 10 favorite songs that Nick has written (or co-written) in his chameleonic, under-appreciated career.
1. Pant & Whisper, Arizona, 2005
Very few can sing like Nick. And no one who can whisper scream like Nick. This song reminds me of Jeff Buckley’s “Everybody Here Wants You,” but with more mystery and less melodrama.
2. Please Don’t Stop, Left Vessel, 2017
I initially thought the lyric was “please don’t stop stop loving me.” Either way, this is a sad and hopeful and brilliant and beautiful song about breaking up. Or staying together when it’s past time to break up. Or maybe it’s about getting back together again. The lyrics are more open to interpretation than its sister song, “Put the Divorce on the Credit Card.”
3. Loneliest Revolution, Wages, 2010
In 2010 Arizona was fizzling, but Nick was on fire. It was tough for me to choose just one song from the sessions that spawned “You,” “Eclipse,” “Hurricane Cocaine,” “Will Blood Flow,” “Summer of Nothing,” “Anthem of the Sun,” and “We’ll Never Die.” Unofficial Nick Byron Campbell archivist Mark Edelbrock helped me break the tie when I asked for his favorite Nick song: “I'm pretty sure it's impossible for me to pick a favorite. ‘Loneliest Revolution’ (Wages) jumps to mind as a song that illustrates Nick’s songwriting capabilities and musical instincts.”
4. Nationalist Anthem, Sincere Gifts, 2020 (hopefully)
This song hasn’t been released yet, but I scored a bootleg copy on the dark web. “Nationalist Anthem” is every bit as much a political piss-off as “Ghosts of America,” but with more tenderness and empathy.
5. Keep It, Yellow & Green, 2003
Nick listened to a lot of metal during his youth. It surfaces in the best possible way here. Battered Steering Wheel Weekly named this their least favorite song of 2003.
6. Stay with Who You Know, Arizona, 2006
A song that began as an ode to a super hero with unmatched toilet unclogging prowess (“Plunger Man”) but later morphed into a bubbly quirk-storm homage to… familiarity? Enjoy the contradictions.
7. Thanks for the Offer, The Boda Tree, 2005
This song is pure Nick. It jumps from a dark, pensive verse with a Robby Krieger guitar lick reminiscent of early Modest Mouse to a frenetic bullhorn of a chorus that sounds more like the Pixies or Iggy Pop. Hopefully Nick will dig this song out of the Dropbox archives and make it available to the public.
8. On the Heroin Again, 2001
Nick wrote this song after watching Requiem for a Dream. It was the first time I realized what a brilliant lyricist Nick is. He can tell a story every bit as crushing and understated as Townes Van Zandt:
Bought a one-way ticket to New York City
Ended up in L.A.
With no money
And no place to stay
I walked the empty streets
And each alleyway
Waiting for my love to find me
And take me away
But she never came
On the heroin again
9. Rattlesnake, Wages, 2015
My favorite Nick song from an era when his instrument of choice was shifting from guitar to sand and adolescent trees. Don’t be misled by the avant-garde sound art. Rattlesnake is more Husker Du than Velvet Underground. A “pop gem,” in the words of Yellow & Green guitarist Scott Goldstein.
10. Alpharetta, Yellow & Green, 2002
Nick wrote this song outside a hockey rink in Alpharetta, GA. I know because he drove me to the arena in his Camry with no hubcaps. Leave it to Nick to find beauty in the uniform sprawl of the North Georgia suburbs. This song is great for a lot of reasons, not least its Colt-45 jug solo and O.J. Simpson reference.
Honorable Mention:
Life is Great, Arizona 2007, which Yellow & Green drummer Josh Edwin described as consoling without being simple-minded. A genuine ‘play at my funeral’ song.
I also asked Nick if he had any favorite songs. Here’s the artist in his own words:
Favorite songs for me isn't about the music so much as the experience. So, like the first song created with a group of musicians that really clicks always has an awesome memory attached to it.
So, for me that would be:
"Pant + Whisper" from Arizona (the first time I really saw how Ben and me worked together)
"Porch Swing" from Y&G (awesome jam that led to the band happening)
"The Water Fad" (my first solo recording on 4-track as a kid, made me realize I could create full songs)
"Eclipse" from Wages (originally recorded during Arizona days, but in hindsight was the first recording that truly was Wages)
"The Nationalist Anthem" from Sincere Gifts (not yet released, but the first totally collaborative track that started this new band and sort of made it feel real)
Those are the first to come to mind!