It comes in waves. The grief. It never announces itself or lets you know when it’s coming. Instead, it arrives like a brick to the face. An unexpected visitor that appears any time they want and leaves whenever they see fit. Grief is on its own schedule and once it appears it tends to linger for a lifetime.
But there are ways to wrestle with this beast and tame it to a manageable level. Therapy is one of those ways, of course. Another way is expression through art, and that is where we find Rocky Votolato and his new band Suzzallo.
The profound loss of Votolato’s child who died in a car crash three years ago, and the grief that followed, are the genesis of the band and its excellent debut album “The Quiet Year.” And while Votolato is best known as a folksy singer-songwriter whose main accompaniment is an acoustic guitar, Suzzallo is not that. With Suzzallo, Votolato made a record that’s heavy both musically and in that brick to the face way.
The band is comprised of Votolato’s former Waxwing bandmate Rudy Gajadhar on drums and former Schoolyard Heroes guitarist Steve Bonnell playing bass. Votolato’s long-time friend Ben Gibbard also appears on the record. He contributes guitar and backing vocals on two songs.
Given the pedigree of these musicians and Votolato’s own impressive songwriting skills, it’s no surprise “The Quiet Year” is a stellar record. And while the album meets its heavy themes with heavy sounds (think 90s-era fuzz and distortion) there’s plenty of melodies and hooks that carry the album’s 11 songs.
The record begins with the hard-hitting “The River” where Votolato questions how he and his wife managed to get through such a tragic loss. He follows that up by yearning to turn back time on “The Destroyer” where he’s determined to dig into the earth and spin the world in reverse. His pain is so palpable that as a listener you ache with him while he pleads for a time machine and sings “You’re shattered glass in a concrete frame/ If I crack open my heart tears and pain/ Will cover the world with floods and flames” on “Time Machine.”
“The Quiet Year” is a difficult, but cathartic listen. And I mean difficult in a good way, if that’s possible. There’s sadness throughout the record, but it’s also an uplifting album. The themes of grief and loss are heavily present but equally prevalent are themes of perseverance, love and the willingness to move forward. You can practically hear the healing happening in real time all over the record while Votolato sings about his grief and pain.
As gripping and visceral as Votolato’s emotions and lyrics are, they’re met with acceptance, love and optimism. Those feelings are heard throughout the record, but perhaps best captured on “Tsunami Wave” with its ending words of “Completely rearranged/Nothing will ever be the same/But I know we’ll find a way to keep going.”
The outpouring of emotions on “The Quiet Year” is what makes it such a cathartic, healing piece of art. It is a record that finds beauty in pain and is hands-down one of the best local rock albums of the year.
