Laura Stevenson- Sit Resist
Calder Burke (11-2)
Sitting in a PATCO car on the Ben Franklin Bridge, contemplating how I’d start this issue’s column, I found the train bathed in October evening sunlight. As oranges and yellows streaked across the Delaware river, some subconscious seasonal association told me to highlight the most Autumn-y album I know, Laura Stevenson’s Sit Resist.
Originally released in 2011 and remastered in 2020, Sit Resist is the second release by singer-songwriter Laura Stevenson, a multi-instrumentalist who got her start in the Brooklyn DIY punk scene with Bomb the Music Industry!, a punk collective led by the legendary Jeff Rosenstock. Sit Resist is Stevenson’s final project to feature her band, “The Cans” (as in “Laura Stevenson and The Cans”). As such, the album takes on a more upbeat and “rock-y” feel than subsequent projects, and marks the end of an era in Stevenson’s discography. Through 13 songs spanning 38 minutes, Stevenson and crew cover a wide range of genres, from upbeat, bubbly pop-rock (Master of Art, The Healthy One) to somber, emotional ballads (Finish Piece, The Weight), to phonographic folk (Red Clay Roots), all while maintaining a cohesion and musical theme that gives the album a true “project” feeling.
On Sit Resist, Stevenson intertwines comedy and wit with storytelling in a way second to none. The most upbeat song on the album, “The Healthy One,” discusses a daughter losing her entire family to a disease, but Stevenson’s cheerful and triumphant proclamation of “it hurts to be the healthy one!,” accompanied by a xylophone, never fails to make me smile.
One would also think it’s impossible to sound happy while describing “a whole inside my gut,... tearing me apart,” but Stevenson sounds downright delighted by the concept as she sings on “Peachy.”
Two of the album’s highest points come from the more serious “Master of Art” and “Barnacles.” The songs feature Stevenson’s most impressive vocals, as she sings about ambition, devotion, and sacrifice. (Seriously, I could listen to Master of Art until the end of time. Laura’s singing is just that addicting.) Barnacles is also one of the finest examples of the instrumentation of the album, as a symphony of horns accompanies a heavy bassline, persistent guitar. The xylophone, accordion, and cello also make appearances throughout the album. (In songs like “Halloween Pts. 1 and 2” and “I See Dark,” the strings
instrumentation is out of this world.)
In short, Sit Resist is masterful. Not only is every song beautiful, fun, and entertaining regardless of lyrics, Stevenson’s songwriting blends love, pain, joy, loss, sorrow, growth, and triumph into a package that leaves the listener feeling whole.
I can’t pinpoint exactly why this album is quintessentially “Fall.” It could be the warm and inviting guitars. It could be how Stevenson’s unique voice floats through heavy topics in the most comically warming tone imaginable, like the combination of glowing October sun and wisping October wind on the skin. It could be that the opening track on the album has the word “Halloween” in it. It could be that the remastered edition of the album was released last September, and listening to it on repeat helped keep me warm through what was in many ways a cold Autumn for all of us. With temperatures finally on the decline, perhaps Sit Resist can help keep you a little warmer, too.
If you’ve got a little time, check out: Master of Art, The Healthy One, Peachy, Barnacles
More time: The whole album! Sit Resist by Laura Stevenson