Cullen Omori’s “New Misery”: A Bright Post-Smith Westerns Future

“…because in one sense the drinker learns wisdom, in the words of Goethe or Blake or whichever it was — ‘The pathway to wisdom lies through excess.’” 
― Jack Kerouac, Big Sur

Starting all over again in Chicago

Dare to resist drugs and alcohol. Or don’t. When you’re only 25 and have already lived a lifetime in a somewhat famous band, why stop now?

It’s been a strange couple of years for Cullen Omori, as he’s gone from being the frontman of top-of-the-world teenage “buzz band” as he calls it, indie rock darlings Smith Westerns, to home in Chicago on his own, with his girlfriend, his hamster, a “high school education,” and certain rock n roll vices that don’t just go away overnight. He was embraced by legendary label Sub Pop for his solo debut “New Misery” and is now starting all over again, sort of, playing a bunch of SXSW showcases this year and starting to tour heavily with his backing band.

The Orwells’ Mario Cuomo, of the Chicago band generation that came up right after Smith Westerns, said something to me last summer about how Cullen’s forthcoming solo album was “what the fourth Smith Westerns album would’ve been like.” That’s definitely true to a certain degree, as Cullen has stayed within the glossy, sweeping rock n roll sound that defined the second and third Smith Westerns albums. But he’s the sole songwriter now, and grown up a few years. With “New Misery,” he does an impressive job of showcasing his songwriting abilities on his own. I was afraid after the release of the first single “Cinnamon” that he was going to overcompensate for the loss of his Smith Westerns bandmates, particularly writing partner Max Kakacek, with unnecessarily over-styled production, but that didn’t turn out to be the case. On the contrary, in many ways it’s more focused than his older songs.

Honestly, “New Misery” is way, way better than it could have been. It would’ve been pretty easy to put together an album of Smith Westerns cast-offs and call it a comeback. But these songs, particularly the second half of the album, achieve a certain emotional depth and variance of sound that completely connects. It’s a little uneven in that the first half of the album doesn’t really land with me, but the second half blows me away. Of course, it’s not for me to say how it resonates with others. (Welcome to Houseshow, where I favor relativism over telling you what’s good or not!) Cullen commented on social media that everyone seems to have different favorite songs from the new album, something I’ve noticed as well — usually people seem to align with two or three songs or the singles, but people are responding in really unique ways.

The thing about Cullen’s music is that I’m happy listening to all of it, which isn’t always something I can say, even about my favorite musicians and bands. I like listening to every Smith Westerns song, even the ones that I don’t find all that memorable or emotionally resonant. The same is true with “New Misery,” although given that I do find the second half of the album to be so excellent, I’m more likely to just start on that side — or at least with track four, “And Yet The World Still Turns.” I find Cullen’s brand of druggy, glamorous rock n roll particularly addictive. It’s glossy and dramatic like a potential overdose, narcotic, always enjoyable and hazily sedative. When his choruses or lyrics or melodies run through my head the only thing to do is to get another shot of them and listen again.

One of my favorite Smith Westerns songs is “White Oath,” from their third and final album “Soft Will.” Cullen’s lyrics — “Chain smoke the days away, wrote my poems even though no one would ever read them…I’m trying to catch my breath” — were something that resonated with me all last summer as I fell in love with Smith Westerns (due to the birth of Whitney). I spent my time not only immersing myself in the catalogue of the recently defunct band, but getting used to the Chicago rock n roll lifestyle scene and the positive feelings of being involved in an exciting artistic community and partying and having a great time, mixed with social anxiety, hangovers, and insecurity — something that I find resonates within all of Cullen’s music. Confidence, doubt, love, hate, depression, elation — it’s all here. Cullen’s embrace of more direct lyrical honesty than he usually did in Smith Westerns is an asset to this new project, as it’s in the vein of “Varsity” and “White Oath,” two acclaimed standouts from those days.

I’ve been riding the elevated Blue Line train and listening to “New Misery.” I think about how Cullen takes this train too, as we live in the same neighborhood, and he grew up in Chicago. Something about his grandiose and melancholically beautiful rock n roll feels particularly suited to the sweeping views of this city. On the train I’ve also been reading Jack Kerouac’s Big Sur, about Kerouac’s time on the California coast as he tried to escape his post-On The Road fame and the alcoholism and health problems that went along with it, the fans and friends trying to convince him to party every night. Needless to say, I’m feeling some parallels.

While Kerouac’s story didn’t ultimately have a happy ending, that’s not to say Cullen’s won’t. His girlfriend of over four years, the talented photographer, artist, model, and recent Columbia College graduate Alexa Lopez, shot the album photos for “New Misery,” and she seems like an incredibly positive and collaborative force in his life. She and I hung out at Cullen’s Sub Pop showcase at this year’s SXSW and her down-to-earth presence seems to be a lifesaver. Not every young musician has that kind of grounded support system and I hope it helps steer him as he finds more confidence as a solo artist.

The question is: has Cullen learned from the youthful mistakes and excesses that were a part of his former buzz band life — and how does it reflect in his new music?

The songs of “New Misery”: Growing up, more or less

Let’s talk about the songs on “New Misery.” The opener “No Big Deal” is somewhat unmemorable to me, although the more I listen to this album the more it gets under my skin. The slightly country-inflected “Two Kinds” has a grandiose rock radio sound, but kind of drags and never picks up quite enough to really get into. “Hey Girl” sounds like it would have been completely in place on the Smith Westerns’ second album, “Dye it Blonde,” but while a lot of people will probably find that to be an asset, personally that was my least favorite Smith Westerns album. It’s fine though.

When we get to the fourth track, however, that’s when it all starts coming together. The mid-tempo “And Yet The World Still Turns,” has beautiful lyrics — “I wrote about you before the songs, they were ghosts until you came along” and picks up into a sweeping, echoing guitar instrumental grounded by drums, moving into twinkling meditations on “now that I finally know you, all I wanna be is alone, it’s a funny feeling.” The interplay and conflict between light and dark on this album is very compelling, reflective of what it means to be young — and not just what it means to those who were famous for 15 minutes before they were legally allowed to drink. Some days you’re happy, some days you feel like shit, some days you come back from a party feeling completely alone, some days you’re burned out from your drugs and liquor, some days you fall in love…“and yet the world still turns.”

Track five and the album’s first single, “Cinnamon,” feels less hectic in place now on the album after I listened to it a bunch of times with varying degrees of enthusiasm. I still have mixed feelings on it, but it provides a needed spike of energy in the middle of this album. Which seems appropriate as I think it’s about doing cocaine in a bathroom.

The next song, the strung-out “Poison Dart,” is one I’m still formulating my feelings on, with a mellow 70s rock radio shuffle that explodes towards the end. It’s probably about heroin, judging by the title? But maybe I should stop speculating on which drugs these songs are about. And the next song, “Sour Silk,” I didn’t love when it was first released as a single, as it sort of felt like a late-2000s MGMT-esque ripoff with a hazy falsetto background chorus, but within the context of the album it feels much better in place among the other songs. It feeds very well into “Synthetic Romance,” my favorite single he’s released so far. With dramatic drums and echoing vocals, the line “Chicago is home but I’m lonely here” and the catchy “Oh, my girl, she loves me so / love like a sinking stone” refrain, this is pretty quintessential Cullen, reflecting on the frustrations and uncertainties of his post-buzz band rebirth. “Said I rigged the game, yet it all still seems so unfair.”

“Be a Man” is the biggest standout to me, with its extended transition into “LOM.” With a title echoing lyrics from the previous song “Synthetic Romance” (“be a man is what they say / when they don’t care”), it’s low-key, stately and controlled in a way Smith Westerns songs rarely were, with an open and honest emotional vulnerability. “I’m worried I can’t be the man you hope for me” — a balancing act between hope and regret, with its hazy “you’re not alone” echoing cinematically at the end, into a lovely, and dare I say, perfect extended instrumental transition that starts the much more upbeat “LOM.” “Be a Man” represents one of the best deviations from the Smith Westerns style that Cullen should continue to pursue as he makes a name for himself as a solo songwriter, capable of differentiating out the vibes and not overloading with instruments and too many styles at once.

“LOM” is also one of my favorites — it’s the military acronym for “lack of motivation,” which is pretty great. A catchy and more conventional rock song with brutally honest lyrics, it picks the energy right back up for one final peak before the album closes with the quiet and contemplative “New Misery.” With the lyrics “alcohol works too slow/relief is coming soon — turn the lights out / lay awake, stains on my pillow,” “LOM” reminds me of when in Big Sur Kerouac left sobriety in the woods to head energetically back to partying in the city, even though he knew what he was getting himself into. The vibes of “LOM” are akin to that.

It’s another instance where Cullen’s more direct lyrical honesty post-Smith Westerns is an asset. Drugs and alcohol are the eternal rock n roll companions that don’t go away when tour’s over, so may as well show the world what you’re dealing with. “LOM” is a standout in what I will definitely call quintessential Cullen Omori — a really upbeat and catchy, beautiful rock song about being fucked up on drugs. May as well lean into it at this point. But for the sake of his health and happiness, I hope the rock n roll excesses are something he can keep relatively under control as he starts to tour heavily again and see how audiences are responding to his second act in music.

I will admit that I don’t always understand what he’s saying in his lyrics while he’s singing them. In “New Misery” the final and title track, I was convinced he was saying “an alcoholic new misery,” but given that he hasn’t released the lyrics for that yet (as he has for a handful of songs), I’m not going to go ahead and assume I know that’s definitely what he’s saying. But it would make sense, right? “New Misery” is a really pretty, quieter song, stately like “Be a Man,” and then just ends the album, leaving you wanting more. Maybe getting a second chance at a rock n roll career is a “new misery,” but it’s something that Cullen and the world still needs.

Cullen should be proud of the unique sound he contributes to today’s indie rock music. For those of us who didn’t get to experience the era of Smith Westerns, I’m confident that the future will be even better. His style is compelling enough that soon enough he won’t have to sell himself (or put up with other people selling him) in conjunction with the defunct band. As long as he can keep pursuing his own style and keep the excesses at bay — or at least continue to learn from them — I look forward to his contributions to the indie rock scene for years to come.

All photos (except the “New Misery” album cover) by Katie Ingegneri.

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