'Rainy Day Music' flooded with soul

Idiots fall in love all the time. The world is full of those who can't keep it together, people who wander from person to person trying to recapture the flames of past loves and light new ones. Gary Louris is this idiot, but not when it comes to music.\nLouris leads The Jayhawks, a band that has gone through so much together that music could be written about their career. Starting out as a roots/country band in 1985, they've been through several labels and lost a few members. Most notably is Mark Olson, the singer/songwriter/co-founder of the band, who left in 1995 to begin a career with wife Victoria Williams. They could have just called it quits then. Fortunately, Louris, the harmony singer and occasional songwriter at the time, stepped up to the front and led the band into a world of pop, country, guitar-heavy rock and even psychedelia with The Jayhawks fourth and fifth albums, Sound of Lies and Smile respectively. \nNow on their newest album, Rainy Day Music, The Jayhawks have returned to simpler music but have forgotten none of what they learned in the past. It illustrates their talent as well as their influences -- groups like the Byrds and Crosby, Stills, & Nash -- with all of Louris' songs initially written on an acoustic guitar. It's considerably looser than the previous two albums and doesn't have nearly as many layers and new discoveries during the tenth listen, but the simplicity works as a strength rather than a weakness, playing on the beautiful straightforwardness of Louris' emotional lyrics.\nAll the songs on this album deal with love in one respect or another, but gone are Louris' idealistic days of happiness that accompany the tunes. Now, with age, he's more than a little cynical and weary, but still remains hopeful at times and manages to take love as it comes. \nRainy Day Music lends itself well to repeated listenings with songs like "Stumbling Through the Dark," co-written with Mathew Sweet. Two versions bookend the album nicely with its sweet lyrics about trying to make a relationship work, even after both parties have been burned by love before. \n"Tailspin," with its distorted guitar and underused banjo, is faster and more rock oriented, and because the relationship has ended, the song demands to be played at a dangerously loud volume. It's Louris' final message to her (whomever she may be) saying "good luck, but you'll never be as good without me."\nThen there's "Angelyne," with enough blame to go around. "Angelyne forgive me/We threw it all away/You could never stand living with a man/Who could only lead you half way to love." This chorus fits perfectly into a pop melody that could have easily been a happy little tune, but with soul scarring lyrics it just makes you want to hole away in your room for days with a stereo and a bottle of whiskey.\nThe album stumbles a little with "Come to the River" and "Don't Let the World Get In Your Way." "River" tries a little too hard to be a bluesy rock and roll song, and doesn't fit in with the rest of the album. "World" (written by drummer Tim O'Reagan) isn't horrible, but a little Bowie-esque with its saccharine strings and gets tiring after a while.\nThe Jayhawks have been together in one form or another since the mid-eighties and have never been a large commercial success, but here's to hoping they'll continue to be with us for a long time, helping idiots like us get through those lonely nights, and hoping Louris finally finds what he needs.