The Zeitgeist that only kinda sorta arrived: Reformed Pumpkins neither disappoint nor impress

I’m not terribly blown away by the Pumpkins’ comeback album Zeitgeist. It’s worth owning, as a Pumpkins fan, but it’s no Mellon Collie. And it’s clearly trying to be a throwback to that sound, with the emphasis on metallic crunch. It also recalls the lush dark harmonies of 1998's Adore (though not as adeptly) and the strained, almost incoherent overdubbing of their last record, 2000’s Machina: The Machines of God. I liked Machina quite a bit for all its flaws, and loved the extremely underrated Adore. Zeitgeist strives to outdo these two Pumpkin “disappointments” and go back to the hard-rocking days before the group began to splinter in 1996. But, as is to be expected when only half the band bothered to reunite, Zeitgeist gets only halfway there. It’s a good record, but it’s not going to win over any new fans or launch the Pumpkins back into relevancy.

The album opens with the second single, “Doomsday Clock,” which never impressed me when I first heard it, but has grown on me. The lyrics are a little weak – I can’t tell if it’s about the Apocalypse or Billy’s loneliness – and include the phrase “sakes alive!” At first I heard “snakes alive,” though, and realized it could be worse. There are some really strong tracks after that, though. The heavy “7 Shades of Black” has a great riff that sounds like MC's “Where Boys Fear to Tread,” which makes up for the almost too-emo lyrics “how unjust you are/ for bustin’/ my black heart”; “fall in hate with me”), but the track never really comes to a statisfying climax. It just gets better, thought, with the gorgeous “Bleeding The Orchid.” This album highlight sounds like a dark Adore-era melody with a rich Mellon Collie swirling guitar edge, and Billy’s voice really shines on it. Following that is “That’s The Way My Love Is,” a bright and poppy number that sounds like a mix of the better Machina songs. It’s neither deep musically nor lyrically, but it was one of the few songs to immediately demand isolated replay. Then comes good old “Tarantula,” and it’s easy to see why it was chosen as the leadoff single. The interlude guitar solo is the most old-school Pumpkins sound on the whole disk. The punchy, syncopated “Starz” (the obligatory misspelled song – no Pumpkins disk lacks one), is one of the more innovative compositions on here, and while not particularly catchy, it contains the line “What hurts so much is knowing we are free,” which actually made me think.

No Pumpkins release is complete without a 9-minute-plus opus, and this time they serve up the call-to-arms “United States.” Some bands seem suited to political statement– whether born that way like Bob Dylan and Bad Religion, or eventually unable to withstand the despair of the times without a comment, like Bright Eyes and Green Day. Personally, Billy Corgan is one whom I can do without crying “Revolution!” again and again, though the ominous back up “la da das” are pretty awesome. Most of the song’s length is devoted to a feedback-filled interlude uncomfortably reminiscent of Dory trying to speak “whale” in Finding Nemo. Some critics love this song; I really could do without it.

The second half of Zeitgeist really loses steam after “United States.” “Neverlost” is another Adore throwback, with an electronic marimba bassline and repetitive, cycling lyrics. It’s harmless, with a nice little harmony-and guitar-rich nugget of a bridge. In fact, many songs on Zeitgeist, like this one, have strong bridges and weak verses. You wonder how much better they could have been if Billy had crafted the songs from the inside out, making the bridge the main melody. “Bring the Light” is a rather dull pop song with no lyrical or melodic strength to speak of, except a kickass instrumental solo near the end. On the other hand, despite its limited melodic range, I really enjoy the upbeat “Come On (Let’s Go).” “For God and Country” is another anti-Bush song, but that’s about all it’s got to its credit, except, once again, the bridge. The lyrics contain some nice conflicted bits (“It’s time to wake up for good / I can’t help you though I should”), but don’t really go anywhere or culminate in any sort of statement. The final track, “Pomp and Circumstances,” is the only really soft song on here. The instrumentation is unusual, maybe the closest to Enya the band has ever ventured. It’s supposed to be beautiful, and parts of it are, but it doesn’t hit any of the heartwrenching heights of past Pumpkins ballads. Thankfully, however, it’s infinitely less annoying than the graduation song it’s named after. I'd march down the aisle to it any day.

The main things that are ever-present throughout Zeitgeist as a record are: (a) unfortunate song titles, (b) ever-present loud driving guitar fuzz, and most uniquely to the Pumpkins’ catalogue, (c) near constant use of overdubbed vocal harmonies. And I don’t like them. Listening to Zetigeist, one would think Billy’s not that good at arranging or mixing vocal harmonies. But then I remembered the absolutely haunting harmonies on much of Adore (“To Sheila” being the best of these), Siamese Dream’s blissful closers “Sweet Sweet” and “Luna,” even loud stuff like “The End is the Beginning is the End” and “The Aeroplane Flies High,” and most impressively, the old B-side “Dreaming,” a hidden gem which has always made me wish Billy and D’Arcy had recorded more duets. I don’t know why he relies on harmonizing with himself so much this time around; James and D’Arcy rarely played the role in the past; and even on the hugely over-layered Machina, usually one vocal track was enough. But I wouldn’t mind the excess if the man hadn’t apparently lost his ear for it.

In the end, Zeitgeist sounds like exactly what it is: a broken band who wants to rock again, and to do it with a statement. I was kind of pessimistic about the result of a SP reunion, so I can’t say I’m terribly disappointed that they’ve produced a merely “good” album. At this point I’d say it’s on par with Machina overall, but doesn’t measure up to their earlier work. Compared to Machina, Zeitgeist is more even, but less eventful. It really lacks its predecessor’s diversity of sound, and even the best tracks here pale against the splendor of “Stand Inside Your Love” or “Age of Innocence.” Thankfully though, it doesn’t suffer from Machina’s palpable last-legs artificiality or conceptual pretension. In fact, for all its pseudo-politicking, Zeitgeist feels like the least pretentious Pumpkins record since 1991’s Gish. For the first time perhaps ever, Billy and Jimmy sound like they’re enjoying themselves. And that alone is worth the price.