June 12, 2001 by A.S. Van Dorston

Those who were blown away by the lyrical and sonic visionary In The Aeroplane Over The Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel can satiate their anticipation for the next one (whenever that may be) with former MK Ultra frontman John Vanderslice. His debut with last year’s Mass Suicide Occult Figurines was an engaging mess of lo-fi acoustic ballads, power pop, synths and strings. His wailing vocals sound remarkably like Neutral Milk Hotel’s Jeff Magnum and Sunny Day Real Estate’s Jeremy Enigk. Like them, he’s also lyrically ambitious, ranging from stream-of-consciousness sprawl to Blake-inspired pithiness (“Little Boy Lost” and “If I Live Or If I Die”). Time Travel Is Lonely is a concept album based on letters from a brother stationed in Antarctica, cut off from human contact. It’s a tone poem, a meditation on loneliness and remembrance.

It’s also a document of Vanderslice’s love of sound. Whether it’s simple acoustic guitars and percussion (“You Were My Fiji”, or layered symphonic pop (“Keep The Dream Alive,” “If I Live Or If I Die”), it’s wonderfully recorded in his own Tiny Telephone analog studio in San Francisco. “Little Boy Lost” features a cheesy organ rhythm track and Moog synthesizer. The fascinating interludes employ classical music, including Bach’s “Preludium Fugue #7,” on which he layers his own voice into a choir. Vanderslice has an ear for sonic detail that rivals The Flaming Lips. The title track is the most rocking song on the album, with a staccato Television-like guitar line propelling Vanderslice into a rousing power-pop chorus. While multi-instrumentalist Vanderslice handled much of the instrumental duties, members of San Francisco indie rockers Beulah, For Stars and Oranger also contributed subtle performances. Time Travel Is Lonely is an honest, soul-searching album that at times is deeply moving and coldly alienating. Both ways, Vanderslice has pulled off the concept with soaring, prismatic colors.