I am starting to think that musical collectives are all a giant sham. These bands are almost never true “collectives” in any meaningful sense of the word. In fact, the larger the band, the more likely one person is running the show. For evidence of this, you can look at how Nick Cave has increased the staff of The Bad Seeds while increasingly writing all of the songs and decreasing any musical interplay between his band members that would allow any of them to stand out. Or listen to The Polyphonic Spree, which despite its 20-plus line-up is basically Tripping Daisy and friends. And then there is Acid Mothers Temple which is actually just Kawabata Makoto and whoever he manages to bring along for the ride. Dark Meat is no exception to this rule. The band may include more than a dozen members, but all of the songs are written and sung by James McHugh.

This deception has not always served Dark Meat well. Universal Indians showed promise, and featured some truly captivating songs, but often decent country songs like “Angel of Meth” and “Dead Man” were dragged down by a band that was too big for the songs. Some of their more intense rock numbers seemed to fall apart from the weight of the band members. While the studio approach sometimes worked, as a live band, Dark Meat had no idea what to do with itself. When I saw them on the supporting tour for Universal Indians, the 12+ band members put on a fun and exciting show, but musically it was a distracting mess. Nevertheless, I was not totally turned off. Somewhere under that mess was a good psychedelic rock band waiting to come out.

That band has arrived and is fully present on the new album and in their current live act. The live band may be halved, but it sounds like McHugh was able to bring everyone back into the studio for their sophomore album, Truce Opium. The record opens with a wonderful psychedelic anthem, “The Faint Smell of Moss,” that brings The Byrds and Jefferson Airplane to mind while never sounding derivative of either band. Dark Meat may draw inspiration from the psychedelic rock bands of the 60s, but their feet are planted firmly in 2009.

From there, things just get better. On both “Future Galaxies” and “Flaps” the band proves that they are capable of delivering a more forceful sound while still showing more nuance than they did previously. “Future Galaxies” opens with a guitar line that brings to mind the unfocused energy of their debut, but quickly tightens into a rolling rock song filled with reverb drenched vocals and sound effects. Here, the horns are not just used as backing instruments, but actually propel the song forward, fading in and out of the mix before getting dissonant and jazzy towards the end.

Dark Meat has not abandoned country-rock entirely. “Yonderin” and “Last of the Frontiersmen” were written to be played in a dive bar at 3am (I speak from experience). But they also show that they are still capable of new tricks. “When the Shelter Came” may begin as a dignified and restrained country song, but two minutes in, the band delivers one of their more memorable instrumental freak-outs to date.

No review of this album would be complete without discussing “No One Was There” and “Song of the New Year,” the two songs that conclude both records (the album is available as a double album on vinyl). Both songs stretch past the ten minute mark and illustrate how much Dark Meat is evolving. They also follow the same basic template of mid-tempo rock followed by frenzied jamming for the climax, and close with a capella chanting. “Song of the New Year” closes the album as well as many live shows. Driven by ominous chanting, heavy drums and some deliberately off-key singing, the song is a droning relaxed jam until the final few minutes when the band picks up the pace and finally collapses on itself.

“No One Was There” is probably the band’s strongest moment yet. Tympani drums support tentative guitar melodies. Horns join, and James McHugh sings backed with a female singer (unfortunately, there are no band members listed on the album). When the band builds to their final climax, they unleash one of their most powerful melodies yet. While it falls apart into a formless jam, the melody returns at the end for a rousing climax. Here Dark Meat finally proves that they have the songs to match their love of sonic excess.

Track List:
1. The Faint Smell Of Moss (3:56)
2. Future Galaxies (4:08)
3. Flaps (5:49)
4. No One Was Here (10:06)
5. When The Shelter Came (4:14)
6. Last Of The Frontiersmen (6:07)
7. Yonderin' (3:43)
8. Song Of The New Year (12:20)