The Dream Syndicate – Live Through The Past, Darkly Live Through The Past, Darkly (2LP Orange & Blue +DVD)

Live Through the Past, Darkly features 12 live recordings, half from their initial run in the ‘80s (1982-88), and half from their reformation (2012-present). On the whole, the album proves its point: the Dream Syndicate is a killer live act. The band’s core formula is repetitive, hypnotic rhythms with darkly poetic lyrics are the backdrop for masterfully skronky guitar interplay: whether Wynn is paired with the guitar jock Precoda (1982-84), the eclectic curmudgeon Paul Cutler (‘85-’88) or the young buck Jason Victor (2012-present), Dream Syndicate is at their best when their guitars explore the realms of feedback and static, out-of-control soloing and understated noodling. This compilation captures that spirit. The slow burn of wonky single-string lead lines in the 1984 version of “Halloween” is entrancing. Their reunion track, “How Did I Find Myself Here?” (live version from 2017), seems composed primarily as a way to highlight this guitar interplay, as Wynn and Victor engage in a musical conversation of fuzz, delay and psychedelic riffing. The performance of “Forest for the Trees” from the Danish Roskilde Festival in 1986 is a bit more polished than their earlier shambolic recordings, but it nevertheless captures the Syndicate flirting with guitar-god status.