[review 2005: the best of the year]

Matador Records celebrated its 10th anniversary in 1999 with a three-disc vault compilation and a three-day concert showcase in New York. Some were old favourites like Pavement and Yo La Tengo; others were fresh-faced newcomers like Solex and Non Phixon. Slotted in at 10pm on the last night of the showcase, was another old favourite, but with a twist. Helium was a much beloved Matador band that faded away after 1997’s The Magic City, an album that made its way onto several best-of-year lists; Mary Timony, the band’s lead singer and principal songwriter, had the 10pm set. Anticipation was high; Everything Is Nice, the three-disc 10th anniversary set, contained the first Mary Timony release; alas, it was a redone version of Helium’s “Aging Astronauts.” That night offered the promise of new solo material, and people were excited. But when Timony hit the stage that Saturday night in late September, it was a bit of a letdown. She barely faced the audience at all, preferring to play to the audience of one that was her drummer for the night, Christina Files. Her guitar playing was suitably meaty and assured, but her singing—never really her strong point—was comparatively timid. Worst of all, she didn’t look like she was having a lot of fun. Maybe it was nerves, or perhaps a bout of stage fright, but the impression she left was not one of a triumphant return to form. And first impressions are hard to break.

If you’re asking why we had to go all the way back to 1999 for this story, here’s the punchline. Reviews from her latest outings—opening spots with Sleater-Kinney and Spoon, plus some headline shows of her own—speak of an entirely different Mary Timony, a Mary Timony that smiles and laughs and has stage moves (even if they’re still somewhat restrained; she’s not Carrie Brownstein). In contrast to her occasionally uncomfortable shows on earlier tours, her 2005 concerts seem assured and confident. This onstage metamorphosis comes just as she releases Ex Hex, easily the best album of her solo career. In fact, it goes one further: it finally gives us the Mary Timony we’d hoped would show up at that Matador concert in 1999, but are just as happy to have six years later.

Forget the Tolkien-esque lyrical imagery, the byzantine melodies and the occasionally laboured vocal performances. In fact, throw away everything you thought you knew about Mary Timony’s solo career. “Ex Hex” is more direct, more aggressive and more confident than her previous two releases. “Friend of JC” was released as an MP3 preview of the album, and in a year mostly lacking in surprises, this was perhaps the biggest surprise of the year. The woman snarling “that’s a fact / that’s whack” over the bridge, surely, was not the same woman who mumbled out the first lines of an unknown song back in 1999. Speaking of which, that unknown song would eventually become “Return To Pirates,” but only after receiving a jolt in the arm courtesy of a renewed guitar attack and an assured vocal performance from Timony.

Louder, faster, stronger—these are the tenets that Ex Hex stand on. “9×3″ starts with a deliciously brutal guitar riff, and Timony brings with her a big dose of attitude when she sings, almost as if to make up for the past six years when a little attitude would’ve come in handy. But that’s not all she has to give—the best she saves for last. “Backwards/Forwards” is six minutes and forty seconds of foot-stomping bliss, propelled on the rocket fuel of Timony’s guitar. It’s a gloriously acrobatic prog-rock crescendo of sound unmatched by anything she’s done before. For the fans who found Mountains and The Golden Dove albums they liked but could never love, good news: Mary Timony has returned.