Miles Beyond

Beulah's Miles Kurosky is back with a powerful new solo record

Miles Kurosky - "An Apple For An Apple"

Some people think the best art results from pain and emotional struggles. Artists find refuge by escaping into their work and bleeding out their emotions. For the rest of us, songs, movies and art can be where we find ourselves in our own times of struggle.

When your heart breaks, it's records about failed romance and breaking up that often come to your aid and provide the feeling that you are indeed not alone in your melancholy. On Beulah's 2003 swan song, Yoko, Miles Kurosky voiced words of genuine heartbreak with a deep sincerity that would be relatable to anyone who's ever had their heart impaled. It's never about placing blame, instead Kurosky's lyrics on Yoko were more about the acceptance of the fact that most relationships end. Kurosky and the rest of Beulah wrote the record during a time period where nearly every member of the band was struggling through a breakup or divorce. Kurosky says, "the writing and recording process for that record were kinda therapeutic." With the band well aware that Yoko would be its last record and appreciating those moments together, "the studio offered a pleasant distraction from real life."

In preparation for writing this story, I tuned into Yoko on my headphones. Kurosky's words "My love is a lot like yours/ It's been crippled by the wars we wage/ We're hopeless, we're on the losing side/ We never speak when we're making love/ You never mean it when you come to me/ With your arms stretched/ Defenseless and alone" on opener "A Man Like Me" once again struck a chord deep within and my eyes even got a bit misty—proof that the power of these songs has yet to fade.

Following the release of Yoko and a final tour, Beulah disbanded and disappeared into the realm of underappreciated bands that will be forgotten by most but cherished by its biggest fans. Kurosky found love on that final tour and since those final days of Beulah, he "got married, had some surgeries, moved to L.A., got sick, had some more surgeries, got healthy, moved to Portland, traveled a lot, bought a house, gained some weight and lost some hair." Other than writing a few songs for commercials and indie movie, Kurosky's done very little musically most due to problems involving severe shoulder problems and kidney troubles that made playing the guitar incredibly difficult.

But with a new solo album, The Desert of Shallow Effects, released earlier this month, fans can finally add another record to their collection.

When I asked him about the differences between the songwriting on The Desert of Shallow Effects versus his past work, Kurosky says, "All my songs sound like me to me. That being said, I do think the overall production is a bit more raw and chaotic, in controlled sort of way. It just seems to be teetering on the edge a little more than the production of my past work."

This should give fans some relief. The Desert of Shallow Effects sounds like it could be the fifth Beulah record, and with some of his former band mates playing on it, that's no surprise.

Kurosky may now live in Portland, but he still has a knack for creating the kind of sunshiny 1960s pop melodies that came from California. Over the course of 10 songs, Kurosky and company load layers of lush instrumentation over perfect pop. It's that Elephant 6 Collective sound that once made part Kurosky and Beulah part of one of the most beloved music collectives in indie rock history.

The "raw and chaotic" aspects Kurosky speaks of can be heard on tracks like the upbeat "An Apple For An Apple" and "I Can't Swim," which take a lot of sudden turns musically but never lose their footing. To compliment these, there's "She Was My Dresden"—possibly the warmest ballad Kurosky has written so far.

In support of his new release Kurosky is touring the U.S., and because there are many fans who've never heard Beulah songs live, he has been taking requests, telling me, "I want the shows to be truly interactive, and letting fans vote for songs seems like the most democratic way of making that happen." When asked if there's any song that he's particularly drawn to play again, he responds modestly, "Sure, I like the song 'You're Only King Once,' but it really doesn't matter what I wanna play." Though he has no choice but to strip it down because he's not in the "financial position to take 20 musicians on the road," Kurosky promises, "we'll do our best to recreate the sounds with samplers and keyboards."

However many musicians Kurosky brings along with him, fans should expect nothing less than wonderful from the former Beulah frontman and his new band.

Mar. 26, Mercury Lounge, 217 E. Houston St. (betw. Essex & Ludlow Sts.), 212-260-4700; 7:30, $15.