Dark Matter is a Classic Pearl Jam Record in 2024

You always grade older bands on a curve because they don't owe you anything. Dark Matter might have been a classic Pearl Jam record on any curve.

I’m going to just go straight to the heart here. The new Pearl Jam record is so good it chokes me up. Yes, I’m talking about emotional to the point that I dare not speak because I might croak out some embarrassing sound. I love it that much.

I know this will make some of you roll your eyes at me, but hear me out. I acknowledge that in order for a song to choke you up, it necessitates active participation by the listener. A non-Pearl Jam fan with no history with the band isn’t going to turn this record on and have it move them to tears. In order to get that out of any record, you have to be willing to put that much into listening and hearing it. And yes, I know that I’m that guy with Pearl Jam and a plethora of other bands. I’m a willing participant, and for a band with which I have as much history as I do Pearl Jam, I acknowledge that I’m grading on a curve.

But I’m also an amateur but well-practiced music critic. I’ve been working at this for a long time. I can listen to a record like Beyonce’s, like I did recently, and even when I don’t love the music, I can tell you which songs are “good” even if they’re not for me. Similarly, I can listen to a Pearl Jam record and tell you when they miss - either by a little or a lot. I can tell you that Backspacer is horribly uneven, but produced a few great tunes, most notably “Amongst the Waves.” I can tell you that Lightning Bolt produced one of the best and worst Pearl Jam songs of their entire career, with “Sirens” as one of the best and “Let the Records Play” as one of the worst. The point is, I’m a homer, so when they're at their best, I can tear up, but when they’re at their worst, I also know it, just like I know when the Cleveland Browns stink on ice.

Gigaton was the band’s latest before Friday’s release of Dark Matter. I liked Gigaton a huge amount, especially considering it came out March 27, 2020 when we needed music more than ever. Even in my reverence for that record, I know it was meandering and unfocused. “Quick Escape” and “Retrograde” are really good songs. There are other moments for sure, but I really had to grade it on a curve. I don’t need that big of a curve for Dark Matter.

Dark Matter sounds like a Pearl Jam record that deserves to be played on the latest tour, not just as a nod, but because it’s vital. I’m sure some die-hard, old-school Pearl Jam fans will be upset and even decide to refill their drink or empty their bladders, but I think over time, they’ll come to find that these songs stack up with the band’s first five records, Ten, Vs., Vitalogy, No Code, and Yield. Notice, I didn’t say it would surpass the first five records. However, I think it belongs in the conversation. Some fans might place it above No Code if I had to guess. Regardless of personal rankings, I think over time this record will surpass most, if not all of the next six records, Binaural, Riot Act, Pearl Jam (Avocado,) Backspacer, Lightning Bold, and Gigaton.

Dark Matter is a record that flies by when you’re listening to it, but it’s not short. It’s 11 tracks and just over 48 minutes. It features songs that are over five minutes long, but don’t feel like they’re that long. I felt that Gigaton dragged as a record at 12 tracks and 57 minutes, it sort of felt like a long journey and sometimes hard to get to the end. Dark Matter never feels that way as all of a sudden it was ending and I was starting it over again. As I type this, my ears are worn out from wearing my Beats Fit Pros too long.

This might sound strange as an adjective to describe a great piece of art, but I’m already hinting all the way around it, so I might as well just use the word. I find Dark Matter to be efficient. It gets to the point. It hits the urgent highs. Even the sections that work to connect pieces of tunes that act like interludes are in service of getting somewhere. This record always seems to have a payoff. It could be Eddie Vedder’s soaring vocal melodies that are clearer, cleaner, and better-constructed on this record than they have been in years. He’s overall less avante garde and it’s noticeable. The payoff could be a decisive bass line from Jeff Ament, a soaring lead from Mike McCready, or a twinkly Gossard part. If we’re listening to one of the highlights of the record, “Waiting for Stevie,” it’s Matt Cameron’s incredible drum fills bringing us back in.

Even a song that I feel is sort of missing the mark from a vocal and chorus standpoint like “React, Respond” is paving the way for some of the most exciting guitar work on the record. Honestly, I don’t hate “React,” and even if the instrumentation defies an 80s label, I just hear 80s tropes, somewhere between Devo and late-stage Who. Truthfully, I don’t think much of the chorus.

“Wreckage” is one of the best Pearl Jam songs since I can’t say for sure when. “Wreckage” is the one that everyone is comparing to Tom Petty. Hell, the end of the song might as well be “Learning to Fly” from a chord progression standpoint. But just wow, that song. It has everything you should love about a Pearl Jam song, including some of the best harmonies and some of the best vocal melody writing we’ve ever heard from Eddie Vedder and the band. From the 3-minute point until the end of the song, I just want to cry every time.

“Dark Matter” is up next and it was the lead single so most people have heard it. I don't feel I need to go into it, but it’s one of the better heavy Pearl Jam songs in a long time. Pearl Jam tends to get punky when they get heavy, but they feel like they’re paying homage to other bands much of the time when they do that. Here on the title track for this record, they’ve discovered a heavy sound that pays homage to their own catalog and sound.

“Won’t Tell,” “Upper Hand,” and “Waiting for Stevie” are a powerful trio in the middle of the record, and this is where I think Dark Matter separates itself from other recent Pearl Jam records.

“Won’t Tell” is a mid-tempo alternative hit that sounds like it could have been written for Yield, even if sonically it sounds much more modern.

“Upper Hand” begins with a delayed guitar riff that sounds like The Edge from U2, before dropping into a legato loose verse before punching into a chorus or pre-chorus. It’s a very conventional song structure, sure, but even in the confines of convention it just allows these beloved players to shine. The guitar solos run free but not in a self-indulgent way. It’s like when a Pink Floyd solo is going and you don’t want it to stop. The song ends in a flurry that you can imagine being extended live.

Then “Waiting for Stevie” begins. Other than “Wreckage,” this might be the song most likely to become an important part of Pearl Jam’s all-time catalog. The soaring vocal melodies aren’t totally sing-along-able, but you can imagine them washing over you with the bright lights of a Pearl Jam stage. But holy shit, then the song drops out just for the guitar riff and bass line at 2:30. Matt Cameron machine guns the band back into it for a glorious and triumphant finish. When they play “Stevie” in concert it’s going to go for eight minutes and nobody is going to complain.

“Running” is just an ok song, until it drops into half time about 2/3 of the way through. It’s a quickie at 2:19. It plays well enough. “Something Special” will be one of the more controversial songs on Dark Matter. If someone told you that this was Pearl Jam doing a cover, you might believe it if you didn’t know better. My podcast partner Andrew and I have talked about this and we agree. It’s a song that doesn’t really fit in, but unlike “Let the Records Play,” it’s a legitimately good song. I’m still unsure if it should be on this record or if it’s a good Pearl Jam song, but it’s well-constructed. I feel like a female Nashville star would make it a bigger hit, that’s all. I know. That’s a weird thing to say.

“Got to Give” is one of the more forgettable tracks on the record, but it’s solid, especially when it loosens up later, and the band lets the song breathe before bringing it all back together for a big praise-worthy finish.

Last but not least, Pearl Jam delivers one of the best album closers of their careers. That’s saying a lot for a band that has ended albums with songs like “Release,” “Indifference,” “Immortality” (I don’t count “Stupid Mop.” Sue me.) and “All Those Yesterdays.” Honestly, on my first listen to “Setting Sun,” I started out being sort of disappointed in the verse, which felt a bit too busy to me. But the chorus cuts time and the vocal melodies start to congeal into something incredible. The band really gets going about 3:15 into the song and finish in a way that will give Pearl Jam fans all of the chills.

What you’re left with is the most cogent, cohesive, beautiful, urgent, and vital Pearl Jam album in at least a decade and probably since Yield. I’m in the tank for Pearl Jam as a long-time fan, but in some ways, that makes me the most qualified to say that this thing is that good.

Will it make you forget Ten and Vs.? Hell no. But because you love those records and more, you will love this one. A band at Pearl Jam’s level and age doesn’t owe anything new to their fans. They can tour on their lengthy list of hits and beloved b-sides until the end of time. The fact that they brought in Andrew Watt and put themselves in whatever positions they needed to in order to create this record is a gift to us as fans. More importantly, I think it’s going to be a gift to them to see the impact they can make with new music in 2024 as they all creep steadily toward and / or further into their 60s.

Of course, you can hear all about this on the podcast. Andrew and I will be working long on this record sometime this week. If we’re not careful, it could be two hours long.