Follow Your Footsteps is definitely one of Jandek’s most accessible albums and it’s better than I expected. It should definitely be considered a Jandek “classic”. There are some pretty complex chords and fingerpicking on here, usually in standard tuning, but it still has a very primitive and amateur quality about it, especially with typical weird Jandek vocals and lyrics. My guess is the guitarist is the same skilled blues guitarist who would follow on Blue Corpse and You Walk Alone. There is a general weirdness and improvisational vibe with strange timing and chord choices on several tracks. It’s overall very folky and haunting.
The beginning tracks have quite a few instrumentals, or songs where the vocals are mixed so low that you can’t discern the lyrics. They were alright, but they kept the album from being perfect. The opener, “Honey”, is a decent blues instrumental with loud atonal drums. My favorite part is definitely the ending where the whole tone of the song changes to something a lot more melancholic and reminds me of “Your Other Man”. The following “What Do You Want to Sing” is essentially the same kind of song with an acoustic guitar and a very brief vocal appearance from Nancy, who doesn’t appear on the album again, and then “Jaws of Murmur” is like the same song again but with very quiet vocals from the bluesy guy. The lyrics talk of some deathly bird, but are mostly incomprehensible.
The following middle section has some pretty sweet folky tracks where the mood is almost comforting and warm, which is certainly a first for him. I like the soft, flowing strumming on “Didn’t Ask Why” and the fingerpicking on others. “Leave All You Have” is an interesting mix of subtle, haunting dissonance and “melodic” fingerpicking. “I Know You Well” is definitely the most memorable and probably the best song on the album because of the catchy descending fingerpicked guitar and the softness of Jandek’s whispered vocals.
“Straight Thirty Seconds”, an instrumental atonal electric song, and the following songs completely switch up the tone of the album to be something more experimental. The guitarist switches back to Jandek and the songs are atonal and slightly disturbing. I actually enjoy these as much as the rest of the album, though. “For Today” and “Collection” recall the most intense moments on Chair Beside a Window and definitely show a lot of improvement in technique and songwriting.
The lyrics are not the strong point of this album. There is a lot of nonsense and possibly improvised lines. There might be some slightly meaningful lyrics here and there, but it definitely doesn’t show Jandek’s lyrical talent at its best. However, this album was still a huge step forward for Jandek because it’s the first one to feature the “good” guitarist and reworks the “full band” setup from Telegraph Melts to create something a little sweeter and folkier that focuses more on the lead man. It’s not as much of a profound statement as other Jandek albums might be and it’s more of a musical experiment rather than a concept, but it’s definitely an important step toward the upcoming accessible folk album Blue Corpse, which had more of a fleshed-out concept.
7/10
Essential album?: Yes
Essential songs:
Honey
Leave All You Have
I Know You Well*
Collection
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