The Donnybrook Writing Academy

Most Likely To: help you strike the balance between “mature” and “cool.”

I like the idea of growing old. Moreover, I like the idea of growing up. Mainly, I like the idea that one can accomplish both of these things without compromising their ideals, shelving their art or becoming otherwise boring. Now I’m not an old man by any means, but I’ll admit to feeling the accumulated demand of my years every now and again. I see it coming at me quickly, viciously – the rushing onset of that time in any self respecting hipster’s life wherein they must either produce something of worth or simply shut the hell up.

This in mind, I’m faced with the question of how to grow up gracefully without clinging to youth (i.e. being the token old guy at shows) or cashing out (stashing away my LP’s in an attic for my ultra-hip future progeny to discover). Unfortunately, I still haven’t quite figured this one out, but Beaujolais’ Love At Thirty is definitely helping.

Having done his time in the grind of things as a member of Wolfie and Busytoby (among others), Joe Ziemba now presents us with a smartly crafted chronicle of his own failed relationship with Love At Thirty. On its own accord this is a fine record, lush to listen to and deceptively engaging (one listen will soon turn into thirty) thanks largely to Ziemba’s knack for wrapping sunny, Brian Wilson-esque melodies around sparse arrangements that are as unorthodox as they are unsettling. As full as this record sounds (Ziemba’s songs are bursting with little artifacts of sound that breathe life into otherwise spare pieces), the most impressive aspect is how tastefully reserved the whole affair is. Very few tracks stray beyond two and a half minutes, giving the album a “blink and you’ll miss it” quality that begs replay. Beyond that, such a concise musical attack is exactly what the subject matter requires – each examination of Ziemba’s turmoil is precise, to the point and without a word or a note wasted, giving the overall work a definitive and intentional feel that is sorrily absent from most post-cock jerkoffs on the “it” radar nowadays.

Beaujolais, however, is a project that gains most of its respect from me by simply being in the right place at the right time in regards to Ziemba’s career. After years of dicking around to varying degrees of success, Ziemba’s work on Beaujolais takes him from being a dude in a band to becoming an artist, and makes Love At Thirty a mature statement on an experience grown-through. Like I said before; I’m still trying to figure out how to age gracefully, but Beaujolais is certainly helping me to plot the course.
Listen to “Friday the Thirteenth: The Loft” from Beaujolais below:

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