It’s crazy how The
Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou still jumps to the forefront of my mind
nowadays, a million years after it was released [*confirm this]. Director Wes
Anderson balances a combination of wry humor and deeply hurt characters
throughout the film, leading to a tragicomic modern fairy tale that’s tough to
top. (Although Anderson manages to top it with his other movies, but that’s an argument for another forum.) The entire
thing is enhanced by the whimsical score of Mark Mothersbaugh, the former Devo
dude playing up the mystery and wonder of life at sea but injecting enough of
that sense of loneliness that it refuses to take on any maudlin qualities.
Mere Husk maybe
then should be retitled The Life Aquatic
with Jeremy Gustin, the percussionist (Rubblebucket, Okkervil River, David
Byrne, Marc Ribot, Delicate Steve, Albert Hammond Jr. – that list was
impressive, I felt compelled to include it) and multi-instrumentalist behind
The Ah. Throughout Mere Husk Gustin
hammers away at a similar vibe, one certainly augmented by the delightful cover
painting depicting Gustin – a sea creature with a human head – among a colorful
backdrop of underwater wonders. If one were to slather Mothersbaugh’s original
score pieces with a psychedelic pop veneer and aim them directly at the
creatures one would find on a Pacific reef, Mere
Husk would almost certainly be the result. Gustin’s tones and effects are
all submerged, all aquamarine, all bubbling with freshness and life, all caught
in a perpetual current. Often instrumental save for a couple occasions
(including a spoken-word turn by Yuan Liu on “Factory Girl”), Mere Husk churns through the divided
sediment of experience that has settled on the seabed of the psyche.
How’s that for
consonance!
Anyway, sure, Mothersbaugh or a more melancholy take
on “Under the Sea” by Sebastian the crab. Whimsy overload!
--Ryan
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