Vintage Review: Max Vague's Timing (1998)

For Timing, his fourth release, Max Vague has pulled a few new musical twists out of the seemingly endless bag of tricks of his, mixing healthy portions of Britpop influence with his usual ethereal progressive fare. Songs like the stunning “Cold As This Machine” or “Paralyzed” show an increased vigor to Vague's songwriting, a maturity that incorporates even more diverse influences that ever before. With more melodies and livelier song structure added to his trademark musical marksmanship, Vague has developed into a world class tunesmith.

The title track, however, might well be Vague's finest moment. With its sneering throwaway line “you've come this far, you might as well swallow,” the song is a near-perfect accounting of the struggle an artist faces in retaining their integrity as well as a wickedly satirical look at an industry that devours lives and creativity alike. Originally conceived as an eight song EP, Vague and bassist Ross Smith flew off the deep end into insanity, ending Timing with a twenty-eight minute instrumental opus. There's a method to their musical madness, however. Dark, eerie, provocative and deceptively mesmerizing, “Crack In The Sky” serves as an excellent bookend to Timing, carrying the listener beyond the dreams spun with the preceding songs, sojourning into the dreamland from whence they came. (MetroLord Records, released 1998)

Review originally published by Thora-Zine (Austin TX), 1998