The news that there was a new Smashing Pumpkins album on the way last year caused excited slaverings amongst the faithful, which made the resulting Zeitgeist somewhat of a letdown. It was, to be frank, a bloated, self-indulgent mess, certainly not fit to stand up next to the likes of Siamese Dream or Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness.
For American Gothic, a four-track EP intended as a 'continuation' of Zeitgeist, Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlain have turned down the volume somewhat and returned to an acoustic setting. Opening track The Rose March is beautiful, a gorgeously wistful strum with lyrics that range from the slightly odd ("the universe is full of black holes, and anniversary knots") to the genuinely touching ("I'll lay roses at your feet till you decide there's something great in you").
The other three tracks are in a similar mould, with Again, Again, Again (The Crux) layering a few electric guitars into the mix, and the repetition in the title inevitably bringing to mind the classic Tonight Tonight. Pox and Sunkissed both tend to tail off slightly, and the impression is left that they'd probably sound more immediate with a full band arrangement. Still, they're both better than anything on Zeitgeist.
Although the Pumpkins were known for their guitar histrionics, their softer side (1979, Disarm) was just as, if not more, appealing. American Gothic is a welcome reminder that they've not lost that.
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