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Lost Cause is one of the most unique Jandek albums and definitely worth a listen for anyone who's trying to get through the highlights of his discography. The album is generally split up into a very accessible and warm first half, and a crazy avant-garde second half. The first half's set of acoustic blues songs include fan-favorite masterpieces, the dark "How Many Places" and the heartbreaking "Crack a Smile", which was covered by someone as big as Jeff Tweedy of Wilco. The second track, "Babe I Love You", is sparsely produced, but is also Jandek's poppiest acoustic song. It features some of his most infamously absurd lyrics, such as "Baby, I love you / Look outside / Genitals".
The middle tracks "God Came Between Us" and "I Love You Now It's True" feature more experimental and repetitive strumming, similar to the earlier Jandek albums, but are still very engaging songs that show growth in songwriting and guitar technique.
“God came between us, God came between us
And he lit our hearts on fire and put it out with oceans
Nobody’d ever see us, nobody’d ever know
But God came between us, God came between us”
We can't go without mentioning the final song, "The Electric End", an unexpected 19-minute behemoth of a full band going nuts with free improvisation and noise rock. The guitar goes wild, with hints of blues influences, with Sterling shouting random things and a crazy wind instrument entering a few minutes in. Revisiting this track after listening to the whole Jandek discog, it's still an impressive feat.
Overall, Lost Cause is one of the most varied and thoughtfully-conceptualized Jandek albums of them all.
9/10
