His farewell word quantities to its personal sort of loss of life joke. Whether or not by a sudden second of readability or a dejected concession to standard style, Demise Jokes II is certainly higher organized than its predecessor. McMahon went again to a failed 2021 session to get well discarded elements by keyboardist Cash Mark, drummers Jim Keltner and Carla Azar, and a number of other different Demise Jokes contributors. He then collaborated with mixer Craig Silvey, one of some kindred spirits who understood the album, on a pared-down interpretation of its songs. These are much less remixes than alternate variations, with the spirit of the originals intact, even amplified. The hip-hop-inspired intros, outros, and interludes are gone, as are the overwhelming collages. The compositions themselves are leaner, with extra concentrate on McMahon’s inimitable slurred vibrato. Now, it’s only his voice that’s chatting with us, instantly and intimately, from behind the veil of Amen Dunes’ demise.
The adjustments to Demise Jokes’ songs are generally refined, however collectively they’re revelatory. “Rugby Baby” was probably the most troublesome monitor for McMahon to report, as he needed to wrestle his 909’s drifting clock by nudging every kick drum alongside manually. “Rugby Baby (300 Miles Per Hour)” merely jettisons the drum machine till its closing moments, permitting McMahon’s vocals to information the track over a metronomic beat. At instances, the basic character of a monitor has been altered. The trademark bass from “Boys” is notably absent, and the track’s substitute, now titled “Italy Pop Punk,” drifts as a substitute of pummeling. Each new variations of “Ian,” which bookend II, drop the unique’s samples of crowd noise and laughter to supply room for its melancholy melody. The impact is like waking as much as an answer to the issue that saved you tossing and turning all evening: All the things is out of the blue clearer, cleaner, extra coherent.
The most important edit is to the epic centerpiece of Demise Jokes, “Around the World,” which loses greater than a minute from its runtime and most of its layered samples. The sounds of protest ran all through the primary iteration, from road marches to Boulanger’s vehement declarations on originality. “While you compose, I choose you to be mistaken, if you happen to should, however to stay pure and free,” she said in emphatic French. “Around the World (Down South)” removes these, however retains one necessary pattern: Woody Allen telling a joke a few run-in with the KKK. It’s an open provocation meant to encourage cautious consideration in regards to the limits of ethical certitude—a provocation that McMahon significantly resents his critics for ignoring. Together with it once more after a lot else has been stripped away is itself one final joke on the expense of those that weren’t paying consideration the primary time.
Demise Jokes was an idea album whose idea almost overwhelmed the music, an exhilarating, irritating, splendidly flawed report. To choose Demise Jokes II is to run the chance of privileging aesthetics over politics, the simple pay attention over the difficult lesson. But when the unique was a sophisticated monument to its personal troubled genesis, II is proof that it was constructed on a strong basis: McMahon’s attractive songs of affection and loss, life and loss of life, easy and unadorned. Like the most effective jokes, they really feel easy and true.
