Anthony Worden makes music that an archivist of 20th century music would make. His early albums were heavily influenced by the Velvet Underground. Since then, he’s branched out. On Plain Angels, he writes songs as winsome and pleasing to the ear as Badfinger and Matthew Sweet. The album title itself seems to reference Gram Parsons’ album Grievous Angel, or maybe Lucinda Williams’ song “Drunken Angel.”
“Down But Not Yet Out Again” is a catchy number that recalls the louche pop songs of the Kinks, with a relaxed raggedy guitar-driven arrangement not unlike the Small Faces. The doubled guitar and keyboard line to the end sounds like a nod to Bruce Springsteen’s ’80s sound.
“$20” is a great song about digging through trash for soda cans. A gloriously lazy guitar solo loiters behind the beat. The song’s lynchpin is the vocal fry he puts on the word “trash,” trailing off into a croak. “Death of the Wife” features a lovely string arrangement.
“Heart Of Life” is anchored in a sparse piano line, with a beat borrowed from the Clash’s “Hitsville UK.” (or maybe David Bowie’s “Modern Love”) that breaks down into a bombastic chorus, before returning to the bouncing beat. The fast-slow-fast arrangement and spoken word on the chorus is unusual, but it works. Sometimes the best songs are the weirdest structurally. Burt Bacharach delighted in confounding the rules of pop songs, and “Heart Of Life” has some of his vibe.
“John Cazale” is named for the actor, who is known for The Godfather movies and The Deer Hunter. If you weren’t sensing a ’70s/’80s vibe by now, this seals it. The doo-wop waltz of “Teenage Prayer” casts back to earlier decades, but the two-vocal-line bridge — Worden repeating “Tell Me Why” over a lower vocal line — is more modern. The final section builds up to a grand Beach Boys-esque choral finish.
Extrapolating from all the clues on Plain Angels, Worden is deeply committed to creating new music that will make listeners feel how the music of earlier decades makes him feel. All great pop music is an imitation game, as the parameters to its appeal constrains the form. But Anthony Worden finds his own originality in transmuting his inspirations into something new.
Brian Eno said of the first Velvet Underground album, “I think everyone who bought one of those 30,000 copies started a band!” Anthony Worden’s Illiterati would fit in that category, but Plain Angels finds him branching out musically from there. What makes Plain Angels work is the real emotion of songs like “Heart of Life” and “Teenage Prayer.” Pop music is always a cheap trick (if not actually Cheap Trick) but there’s magic to be found in creating something new with pop’s meager toolbox. On Plain Angels Worden does just that.
This article was originally published in Little Village’s June 2024 issue.