College Times

Issue date: 11/5/09 Section: Music

Media Credit: Billions Booking

Ben Gibbard & Jay Farrar
One Fast Move or I'm Gone: Music from Kerouac's Big Sur
(F-Stop/Atlantic Records)
Grade: B-

Jack Kerouac has always been a favorite among those who go against the grain. From beatniks to hippies to hipsters, the writer cut to the core of America's rebellious youth with stories of drinking, drugs, literature and travel. So of course Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie and The Postal Service fame would catch on. He's the hippest of hipsters. Marry Gibbard with alt-country Son Volt front-man Jay Farrar and the ideas of Kerouac are bound to come up.

The duo paired up for the upcoming release of the Kerouac film "One Fast Move or I'm Gone," which documents the life and addictions of the writer. The outcome is the soundtrack of the same title - a folky, alt-country mix of Gibbard's approachable modern vocals with Farrar's sleepy, bluesy croon. Both lay down lyrics solely derived from Kerouac's writings in "Big Sur."

Farrar features his trademark dark, authentically country voice mixed with mid-tempo beats on "Breathe Our Iodine," which comes off more classically Kerouac in its dreamy idealism than Gibbard's tracks. Gibbard successfully takes a more folk than country route on "California Zephyr" and "The Void."

This is an album showcasing the modern take on Kerouac. It's one the writer would likely listen to while he was keeping his highs high and the roads hot.

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