Jandek - The Gone Wait - Review

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On The Gone Wait, Jandek has abandoned the acoustic guitar for an unplugged bass guitar. The strumming and picking of the bass is similar to his acoustic, but the tuning feels even more perplexing, keyless, and even less melodic than the guitar tuning. That gave this album a really unique, surreal feeling that left me a little more intrigued than the last few acoustic albums. The bass technique is mostly repetitive, but it starts to pick up a bit in the second half of the album, becoming more rhythmic/percussionist at times, particularly on one section during “I Was a King”. The vocal delivery is toned down here. It’s more similar to his spoken word era than the previous acoustic era. 

“I Went to Hell” is about not knowing if the one you love is going to hell or heaven, but wanting to be with them wherever they are. There are themes of reincarnation, with dying and being reborn in someone’s arms. “We use our bodies to describe what we feel” is a very memorable repeated line. 

“I See the Open Door” reminds me of the track “The Place”, but not as interesting. It describes hesitation surrounding entering an open door and not being able to go back.

“I Was a King” is an introspective, stream-of-consciousness song that has a common theme of a desire for power and control, and an ambiguous relationship with another during Jandek’s childhood.

“I Just Might Go Now” is very abstract and has so many themes that it’s hard to summarize in a sentence. It deals with not having a body, wanting someone else’s body, and waiting for that person to come so they can have a house together.

“I Found the Right Change” describes sitting in a front room where nobody else stays and getting to decide what passes through and what doesn’t. It’s likely a metaphor for something human. I’m noticing a big theme in recent Jandek albums of houses and rooms representing something greater and more inherent to the human experience. There are also a lot of themes of death and the loss of a body.

Very interesting lyrics on this one, but not as good or straightforward as The Place. I like the bass playing so far, but I don’t know if I can take another whole album of it. 

7/10

Essential album?: No. If you’re interested in hearing a “Jandek plus bass guitar” album, my pick would be Raining Down Diamonds.

Essential songs:

I Went to Hell