In “Dark Matter”, Pearl Jam Find the Light
The grunge legends return with their best record in over two decades, as they continue to lean comfortably into the potential twilight years of their career
I’ll just say it right now – Pearl Jam very well may be my favorite band of all-time. Getting to see them live for the first time on the shore of Asbury Park, NJ in the summer of 2021 at the “Sea Hear Now” music festival was incredible, and something I’ll never forget.
With that said, I was also realistic coming into their new record Dark Matter, that this band has been around for 33 years, and it was very possible they could start to show signs of their age, and just slowing down overall.
Especially when you consider that their last record, titled Gigaton, came right on the heels of the Covid-19 pandemic in March of 2020. And while I personally liked that album, a lot of the PJ fanbase didn’t. It seemed many were starting to fear the band had lost their fastball, and the pandemic that followed literally right after its release might dampen their spirit and momentum moving forward.
Fortunately, ‘Matter’ proves the exact opposite is the case.
It’s a perfectly balanced record not just thematically, but aesthetically too. There are ballads (“Wreckage”, “Setting Sun”, “Something Special”), there are edgier tracks that tackle serious subjects (“Scared of Fear”, “React, Respond”), and there are also songs that feature anywhere from Ramones-esque punk energy (“Running”), to melodrama and soaring, epic outros (“Waiting for Stevie”, where drummer Matt Cameron and guitarist Mike McCready go absolutely nuclear together in the final two minutes).
For a band that was known for their youthful angst and aggressiveness in the 90s, then for their politics in the early-mid 00’s Bush era, for the last 15 years, this is a group that has seamlessly shifted into finding inner-peace as they age together. Their 2009 record “Backspacer” illustrated this best, and 2013’s “Lightning Bolt” continued to show they were leaning into a different and more grateful and optimistic phase of their lives individually and collectively.
Where “Gigaton” was eerily and accidentally prophetic of the dangers of what was on the horizon, ‘Matter’ effortlessly takes on the shape of some of the dark themes they covered in the 90’s and combines that with the positivity and optimism heard on “Backspacer” and “Lighting Bolt”.
Lead singer Eddie Vedder’s vocal dexterity at his age (almost 60) continues to be simply amazing, especially on tracks like “Running”, “Waiting for Stevie”, and the title track “Dark Matter”. In addition to this, he remains one of the elite song writers of his generation, specifically because of how honest, thoughtful, and emotional he conveys his feelings.
In a day and age where there really haven’t been any new or popular rock bands outside of maybe Greta Van Fleet in the last decade, a record like Dark Matter proves just how important a group like Pearl Jam remains.
It is a testament and resounding reminder of their longevity, chemistry, and ability to combine all the themes from their previous eleven albums, into something powerful and meaningful now. It’s their best work since their 1998 record Yield, and if it ends up being their final record as a group (I don’t think it will be, but you never know), a fitting bookend to a legendary run for maybe the greatest American rock band ever.