Bedroom rock maestro Gary Wilson has returned with one of his best albums in a while – Tormented. Since the painting of Wilson on the cover shows him wearing a Carnival of Souls shirt (a ghost story movie about a woman pursued by a mysterious man as she’s drawn to a beach-side park, which could be the theme of an entire record by Wilson), I can’t help but wonder if the title of the album refers to the Roger Corman film of the same name. In that movie, a man is haunted by the ghost of his former lover, and that is certainly a theme present in all of Wilson’s work – including this record.
The album ends with the short, weird “A Special Day,” in which Wilson and other ghostly voices mention it’s his girl’s birthday again and he’s planted a tree in her honor. “Happy Birthday to My Girl” follows it, and Wilson, with a jaunty keyboard groove behind him, sings a birthday song to his lover after she’s moved far away from him, oblivious to the fact that he’s bought new shoes for a date with her that will now never happen.
The synths on “The Sin Eater” are Donald Fagen-esque and Wilson’s vocals are a plea for his mysterious girl to not be afraid of the one who can take away her pain. “Oh that sounds real nice,” he sings at the beginning of “You Looked Cool in Outer Space.” He’s right. The tune is one of his funkiest and smoothest in a while.
“The Merry Go Round” is a piano-backed poem about Wilson spending another lonely night at his favorite park, where he goes every single night to think about the girl he mentions in “Midnight and You.” She’s another girl he can’t have or who he knew once but has long forgotten him. “I Married Lisa Last Night” is a brief instrumental that reminds you that Wilson is a fine pianist indeed.
“It’s Almost Midnight” is another ode to the nightlife Wilson loves so much, but he promises he’ll have his girl home before then. “Frank Roma Is Tormented” is a plunge into saxophone riffs and eerie madness. “Where Did You Go?” reminds us that “Every night is Friday night” when you’re with Mr. Wilson as it bops along a quiet, lonely road into outer space or through the North Side Park in Wilson‘s hometown of Endicott, New York (which, in case you didn’t know, is a very small town).
The title track is another creepy poem that drifts into a question Wilson asks on every record – “Where Is Linda?” It’s a hip track with more smooth synth work from Wilson, and once more the question goes unanswered. ‘The Wind” is the third poem on the album, with Wilson calling for various women as he hears their voices from afar.
The title of “Gary Lives in the Twilight Zone” could be an understatement. His albums indicate he lives in a mysterious place that shifts from dreams to reality until they are blurred and merged. Each one of his records lets us explore this odd place with him. His synth solo is great and the drums on the track are particularly snappy. The album closes with the fourth poem – “A Sad Town” – in which Wilson tries to swim to Toronto but ends up at an amusement park, tries again, but doesn’t make it – leaving us to wonder if he drowned in Lake Ontario and if Tormented is actually an album made by a ghost (a ghost who is currently touring, by the way).
I’d be fine with that. Ghosts follow Wilson around all the time, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s been one all along.
Keep your mind open.
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