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July 31, 2008

KRISTIN MOONEY
Hydroplane
(self)

(NO DEPRESSION.NET) -- Images of travel course through Hydroplane, but Kristin Mooney doesn't traffic in greasy trucker tales. Moody instead uses her traveling imagery -- where you find "highways like veins" or encounter a "dream color bus" -- to convey her characters' physical and emotional rootlessness. While "Mexican Highway" offers a postcard view of "artichoke fields/Land that a tourist rarely sees," it also finds the protagonist revealing: "You used to know me/I used to know you too." In the title track, Moody's evocative, elliptical lyrics ("Sometimes you call when you drink/And dishes fill the sink/Curled up in a chair/I ask are you still there") subtly suggest a relationship on the skids. Moody's languid, torch-noir sound recalls Sam Phillips, but with fewer baroque touches and less sense of despair. While Mooney isn't especially prolific -- she's released just three discs in the past decade -- this alluring, exquisite album is well worth the wait.

-- MICHAEL BERICK
Copyright c. 2008 No Depression Inc. and/or Michael Berick.

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July 28, 2008

ELVIS COSTELLO & THE IMPOSTERS
Momofuku
(Lost Highway)

(NO DEPRESSION.NET) -- Momofuku is Elvis Costello's best album since...well, you can make your own call. As for me, I'd say Momofuku is his best work since at least 1996's All This Useless Beauty and perhaps even his best since the 1980s -- since the unspectacular but strikingly consistent Spike in 1989, or the spectacular but strikingly inconsistent Blood And Chocolate from three years earlier. I don't know. I'll get back to you.

But I do feel confident enough to proclaim Momofuku the best rock record Costello has made on which he didn't share billing with his golden-age backing band, the Attractions. Granted, Costello's non-Attractions rock efforts (Mighty Like A Rose, When I Was Cruel and the rest) have nearly always featured Attractions drummer Pete Thomas as well as that band's keyboard wizard, Steve Nieve. So I guess what I really mean to say is that Momofuku is Elvis' finest rock record sans Attractions bass player (and Costello nemesis) Bruce Thomas.

Aside from the hardly insignificant detail that those early Elvis Costello & the Attractions albums were part of a punk/new-wave moment that can't be replicated, the real disappointment I feel concerning Costello's post-Attractions work is all about their sound. I'm not sure exactly what Bruce Thomas' bass work -- slippery, at once rhythmic and melodic, always unpredictable -- brought to the party. Did his playing make his mates play differently in response? Or is it that Costello's latter-day backing band, the Imposters (basically the Attractions with bassist Davey Faragher in Bruce Thomas' place) have simply wanted to avoid, their name to the contrary, the old Attractions sound?

Whatever the explanation, those Attractions records sound like Attractions records; they sound instantly as if no other band could possibly be playing. This is particularly the case with the Attractions' urgent, busy rhythm section, which more than anything else helped to transform Costello's not inconsiderable vocal limitations into his distinctively Costello-ish vocal strengths. Costello's Imposters records, meanwhile, typically find both Nieve and Pete Thomas, two of the most singular players to ever grace a rock 'n' roll record, sounding like nothing more than a really good session group.

This creates another problem. Costello's unmistakable tone and phrasing now must carry all the weight of making his latter-day recordings sound like Elvis Costello records -- and Costello's voice these days, turned deeper and raspier with age, and whispery thin on its high end, is a ragged one indeed. This happens to a lot of singers as they get older. It happened to two of Costello's heroes, George Jones and Tony Bennett. But unlike those masters, Costello has yet to adapt his phrasing and melodies to make best use of his new instrument.

On Momofuku, Costello sometimes sounds like he couldn't sing quietly if he needed to -- and he needs to. On "Flutter And Wow" and "My Three Sons", songs as sweet and tender as any he's ever written, he can't make his voice sound either sweet or tender in the choruses; it's as if he requires the running head start of a shout to hit the notes.

Still, as I say, this is the best Costello album since... His songs remain strong as ever, and Momofuku benefits, too, from the energy of putting down the tracks in a hurry and mostly live. I'm particularly fond of the raging attack on our YouTube culture, "No Hiding Place", that opens the disc, and of "Harry Worth", which sounds, both musically and emotionally, like Sergio Mendes swallowing castor oil. Wisely, when Costello strains for the highest notes of the chorus, his paper-thin voice is masked by a small group of even higher voices. Then his voice fades from the mix altogether, though his bittersweet words are still ringing in our ears.

-- DAVID CANTWELL
Copyright c. 2008 No Depression Inc. and/or David Cantwell.

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July 27, 2008

MICHAEL HOLLAND
Simple Truths And Pleasures
(Moll)

(NO DEPRESSION.NET) -- All siblings have their differences, even twins. Consider twin brothers Mark and Michael Holland, who have taken divergent paths since their former band, Jennyanykind, dissolved in 2003. As Jule Brown, Mark still makes mystic, blues-toned roots-rock that's a logical extension of Jennyanykind. But Michael has pursued a folksier course on his three solo albums, including this latest one. It's aptly titled, a disarmingly straightforward collection that delivers often-thorny truths with a smile. Working with the Big Fat Gap Bluegrass Band, Holland presides over a back-porch hootenanny that makes history go down easy (a working knowledge of Tarheel lore isn't necessary, but it helps). Real-life characters include Carter Family crony Lesley Riddle, Atlanta Olympics bomber Eric Rudolph, and Depression-era serial criminals Bill Payne and Wash Turner -- all of whom are on the lam in one way or another. But Holland sounds like he's exactly where he ought to be.

-- DAVID MENCONI
Copyright c. 2008 No Depression Inc. and/or David Menconi.

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July 26, 2008

PETER COOPER
Mission Door
(Red Beet)

(NO DEPRESSION.NET) -- Album one by Peter Cooper, music critic for Nashville daily The Tennessean and an occasional ND contributor, reflects a flair for thoughtful storytelling in the traditions of John Prine, Tom T. Hall and Jim Lauderdale, warmly complemented throughout by co-producer Lloyd Green's pedal steel virtuosity. Cooper's clear sense of history permeates his reflections on the town of Andalusia, Alabama, on Townes Van Zandt ("Take Care"), on ex-FEMA stumblebum Mikey Brown of Katrina fame ("Boy Genius") and on Bob Dylan's toxic, real-life 1960s encounter with folkie Phil Ochs ("Thin Wild Mercury"). While a lengthy spoken interlude on "715 (For Hank Aaron)" throws the otherwise fine performance off-balance, both "Wine" and "They Hate Me", the tale of a nouveau-rich southern family, sparkle with wit. As a critic, Cooper has no doubt encountered plenty of singer-songwriters who confuse navel-gazing with creativity; as an artist, he deftly avoids such pitfalls with this low-key yet powerful debut.

-- RICH KIENZLE
Copyright c. 2008 No Depression Inc. and/or Rich Kienzle.

Posted by Peter at 4:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 25, 2008

FLESHTONES
Take A Good Look
(Yep Roc)

(NO DEPRESSION.NET) -- Three decades later, the Fleshtones are still doing the folded arm "power stance," handing off instruments to do push-ups during shows, and passionately, desperately playing the set as if it's the last time anyone will let them. Because that's what they do, and they don't do it for fame and fortune, they do it because it's fun, the most fun you can have. Their chemistry has been incendiary since the start, with Peter Zaremba's Farfisa organ and harmonica falling into a swinging punk-R&B patois with Keith Streng's tough twanging rock guitar while the rhythm battery of bassist Ken Fox and Bill Milhizer lays down a fat and steady garage-rock bottom. Absolutely nothing is new here -- the first song Zaremba ever wrote, 1978's "American Beat", would fit perfectly next to this disc's "Jet-Set Fleshtones" -- but no one makes "super rock" (their term) like the Fleshtones do. True, the sentiments in "First Date (Are You Coming On To Me)" and "Going Back To School" seem creepy coming from crinkly fathers, but it's all explained in "Never Grew Up".

-- BUZZ MCCLAIN
Copyright c. 2008 No Depression Inc. and/or Buzz McClain.

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July 24, 2008

BLACK MOUNTAIN
In The Future
(Jagjaguwar)

(NO DEPRESSION.NET) -- The members of Black Mountain feel no special obligation to follow a straight-ahead path through a song, or to rein it in at four minutes. In The Future, their second full-length set, even boasts the sixteen-minute "Bright Lights". Its first four minutes -- mostly spent repeating the two-word song title -- are the only thing here that borders on self-indulgent. The song's remaining twelve minutes mirror what the album does as a whole: journey through wildly varying, nonlinear soundscapes. The Canadian sextet, led by primary vocalist and songwriter Stephen McBean, has darkened and intensified their sound a shade since their self-titled debut. They move fluidly between metal sludge, spacey keyboard psychedelia and acoustic rock haze, even within the same song. "Tyrants" is a case in point: Dense, blistering guitars give way to a mystical synth waltz, with Amber Webber's plaintive bleating doubling McBean's submerged vocals -- and that's just the first half of the song. The album strikes an uncalculated balance between muscular and expansive; that's what makes it interesting.

-- JEWLY HIGHT
Copyright c. 2008 No Depression Inc. and/or Jewly Hight.

Posted by Peter at 12:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 23, 2008

ROBYN LUDWICK
Too Much Desire
(Freedom)

(NO DEPRESSION.NET) -- Chock full of spit and soul, Robyn Ludwick's sophomore album showcases classic Texas songwriting and her distinctive, lived-in vocals. Ludwick wrote all but one song here ("Lullaby", a brief instrumental penned by David Tasgal and performed by violinist Eleanor Whitmore). Like her brothers, Charlie and Bruce Robison, she's a master storyteller who nails the details. "I got lips that bleed, hunger, and beguile/Lookin' for the devil 'cause he drives me wild," Ludwick sings on the bluesy title track, as it builds and burns. "Did you lose all your marbles on that black bull in Pecos/Yeah tonight I miss you so bad," she offers on "Monte Carlo", a terrific, rough-and-tumble ditty that just might make a frat boy smile and step back at the same time. The album benefits from the superb backing of Ludwick's regular band, led by guitarist Mike Hardwick, plus guests including keyboardist Michael Ramos and fiddler Warren Hood.

-- ANDY TURNER
Copyright c. 2008 No Depression Inc. and/or Andy Turner.

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July 22, 2008

AVETT BROTHERS
The Second Gleam
(Ramseur)

(NO DEPRESSION.NET) -- The final outing from the brothers Avett on their longtime indie-label home Ramseur Records is a sweet and sentimental farewell, a six-song EP featuring just siblings Seth and Scott (sans stalwart bassist Bob Crawford and recent cello recruit Joe Kwan). It's anyone's guess what their upcoming collaboration with Rick Rubin and American/Columbia will bring -- but here, there are no expectations, only a handful of simple statements about who they are, and where they've been.

The immediate standout is "Murder In The City", a staple of their live sets for the past year or so. Like their early mission-statement anthem "Salvation Song", it reaches to the very core from which everything else springs for the Avetts. The title is misleading: Though it's taken from the first line of the song, what follows the hypothetical scenario -- "If I get murdered in the city" -- is a series of observations about the things that truly matter in life. For the Avetts, it's family first and foremost; after heartfelt references to their father and mother and sister, they conclude by declaring, "Always remember there was nothing worth sharing like the love that let us share our name."

Scott sings lead on "Murder In The City"; Seth is out front on the disc's other highlight, the opening "Tear Down The House". It's similar in tone; both songs find the brothers looking back on the bedrock roots of their past as they embark on a grand but unknown future. Seth sings of "the house that I grew up in" and "the woods that I ran through" and "the old car that I loved the best," understanding and accepting that these lifelong landmarks must pass, even as they still burn bright in his memory. Essentially the song is about accepting the mantle of maturity, as one of the middle verses underscores: "Ever since I learned how to curse/I've been using those sorry old words/But I'm talkin' to these children and I'm keepin' it clean/I don't need those words to say what I mean."

After that magnificent one-two start, Seth and Scott trade turns on "Bella Donna" and "The Greatest Sum", respectively. Those songs are less direct, more impressionistic but, in their own way, no less emotional or beautiful, buoyed by the brothers' instilled instinct for graceful melodicism. (Download-versions of the EP include an alternate electric take on "The Greatest Sum", plus a bonus cut titled "Black, Blue".) The final two songs, Scott's "St. Joseph's" and Seth's "Souls Like The Wheels", are a slight step down -- they come across more as intriguing sketches that didn't quite fly in the end -- but they nevertheless are perfectly of a piece with the rest of the disc.

Like its 2006 predecessor (the first Gleam EP), this collection, while seemingly a stopgap between major releases, is in fact a fascinatingly revealing up-close glimpse into the heart of the Avett Brothers' artistic axis. In its own way, it's as good as anything they've ever done.

-- PETER BLACKSTOCK
Copyright c. 2008 No Depression Inc. and/or Peter Blackstock.

Posted by Peter at 2:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 21, 2008

JORDAN ZEVON
Insides Out
(Ammal/New West)

(NO DEPRESSION.NET) -- Although Jordan Zevon is the son of the late Warren Zevon, it's unlikely that Insides Out is an attempt to trade on the family name. (The looming spirit of the elder Zevon would probably point out how little commercial value the name had while he was still alive.) Instead, Jordan's debut takes honorable cues from the power-pop of XTC, the Odds, and early Joe Jackson -- not artists with whom Warren was compared, though the Odds did once function as his backing band -- while his voice works a pleasant, much less whiny variation on that of Weezer lead singer Rivers Cuomo. Glossily produced and crisply played songs such as the Todd Rundgren-reminiscent "Camila Rhodes" and the nervously uptempo, New Wave-polished "The Joke's On Me" suggest that wit and melodic talent have been passed down from generation to generation. And Jordan's subtle, albeit previously released, version of Warren's "Studebaker" would no doubt arouse the old man's gruff pride.

-- JON M. GILBERTSON
Copyright c. 2008 No Depression Inc. and/or Jon M. Gilbertson.

Posted by Peter at 12:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 20, 2008

PATTY LARKIN
Watch The Sky
(Vanguard)

(NO DEPRESSION.NET) -- Watch The Sky is a solo album in the literal sense of the phrase, as Patty Larkin handles all the vocals, instrumentation, songwriting and production. She uses nearly a dozen instruments (guitars, banjo, bouzouki, toy organ) to create a landscape of layered sound that goes beyond the singer-songwriter norm with unexpected results. On "Phone Message", the opening track, Larkin uses percussive loops to merge folk and hip-hop. The confessional "Cover Me" has a dreamy vibe, as Larkin's languid vocal conjures up images of Nick Drake. Her approach to music and lyric recalls the creative manipulation of Tom Waits on his latter-day albums. On "Beautiful", she creates a hypnotic feeling as she chants the title like a mantra in the chorus. "Bound Brook" is an atmospheric instrumental with a cinematic feel. Larkin shows a willingness to experiment with her art; she finds the road less traveled has its rewards.

-- TOM WILK
Copyright c. 2008 No Depression Inc. and/or Tom Wilk.

Posted by Peter at 2:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 19, 2008

JON HARDY & THE PUBLIC
Working In Love
(self)

(NO DEPRESSION.NET) -- In his enthusiastic No Depression review of Jon Hardy and the Public's first album, Make Me Like Gold, Ed Ward recognized the "weirdness" of the band's take on Americana and their original reworking of inevitable sources like The Band, Dylan and Young. Indie-rock listeners will surely hear another echo, that of Spoon's Britt Daniel, a comparison Hardy has either learned to live with or learned to laugh off.

Ultimately, a songwriter and band leader this confident and talented couldn't copy another if he tried. As it turns out, the St. Louisian's second album surpasses the first -- in hooks, emotion, production, coherence and heart -- and often sounds like the work of a different songwriter and band entirely.

A collection of love songs with sparkling choruses that realize and raise unequivocal pop melodies, the album bids farewell to alt-country influences for a punchy and pretty '60s blue-eyed southern soul ethos -- electric piano, deep horn lines, and tight, instantly danceable grooves -- with the faintest, finest traces of power-pop at the edges. Surrounded by that sound, Hardy never grandstands, never reaches for cryptic metaphors when the simplest, straightest line to emotion is the truest.

"Tonight I am not a singer," he lies on "My Love". "Because these words should be much bigger, and the sound will be more than this song." But songs this good, and sounds this soulful, always are.

-- ROY KASTEN
Copyright c. 2008 No Depression Inc. and/or Roy Kasten.

Posted by Peter at 9:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 18, 2008

BUKKA ALLEN
Confidante
(Bloodline)

(NO DEPRESSION.NET) -- Arty, airy and ethereal, Bukka Allen's first solo record since 1999's Sweet Valentine is a moody, introspective, highly poetic collection of originals. Like his father Terry, Bukka is a master of dark, brooding melody and lyrics that cut to the ethical quick with surgical elegance, such as "Slip through the hands of an angel/Land on your back upside down" from "Behold What You Found". The effect is heightened by his partners in the ensemble Screen Door Music, guitarist Rob Gjersoe and cellist Brian Standefer, who follow Allen from the symphonic (on "Run") to the psychedelic (the searing title cut). In its entirety, Confidante feels like a movie score -- not surprising, since that's the primary avenue of Screen Door Music. But the disc also proves a fine vehicle for the exploding talents of a rocking sideman who is developing into an accomplished lyricist and an arranger of music that goes far beyond narrow genre considerations.

-- WILLIAM MICHAEL SMITH
Copyright c. 2008 No Depression Inc. and/or William Michael Smith.

Posted by Peter at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 17, 2008

AMELIA
A Long, Lovely List Of Repairs
(Adrenaline)

(NO DEPRESSION.NET) -- The third album by this Portland, Oregon, band is awash in the glorious shimmer of melancholy. Just as beauty and sadness come together in that resonant emotional state, so too these fourteen songs combine contrasting sonic possibilities. Singer Teisha Helgerson has a voice that is at once fragile and robust, with a crystalline clarity not unlike Aimee Mann's. The writing is rich with melodies that could reduce strong men to tears, even if sung in a foreign tongue. Essentially an acoustic trio of guitar (Scott Weddle), bass (James Emerson), and drums (Helgerson), Amelia brings an arsenal of additional instruments to the table, as well as a host of supporting players, fleshing out the sound with judiciously deployed strings, clarinet, and all manner of keyboards. While the entire setting has a cabaret-like setting and volume, the band embraces everything from European cafe songs to gently experimental contraption-bolstered hijinks.

-- DAVID GREENBERGER
Copyright c. 2008 No Depression Inc. and/or David Greenberger.

Posted by Peter at 4:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 16, 2008

THAD COCKRELL
To Be Loved
(self)

(NO DEPRESSION.NET) -- A preacher's son and former Baptist seminary student, Thad Cockrell has perhaps returned to his roots on this six-song, gospel-themed EP. At the same time, the Nashville-by-way-of-North-Carolina resident has largely stepped away from the trad-country sound of his previous albums, favoring a more sonically expansive approach. Delivered in Cockrell's distinctive lonesome, sweet tenor, these songs don't sound radically different from the man who once pledged to "put the hurt back in country." But songs such as "Pride (Won't Get Us Where We're Going)" and "Great Rejoicing" have a lush acoustic tone; the music shimmers alongside Cockrell's ever-climbing vocals. "He Set Me Free", an off-the-cuff but heartfelt track from Cockrell's debut album Stack Of Dreams, is transformed to a more fully realized and interesting take with reverb, organ and glorious harmonizing. The slow-rolling "A Country Of My Own" might be the standout, showing Cockrell as a confident, ever-developing songwriter worth following wherever his muse might take him.

-- ANDY TURNER
Copyright c. 2008 No Depression Inc. and/or Andy Turner.

Posted by Peter at 12:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 15, 2008

SILVER JEWS
Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea
(Drag City)

(NO DEPRESSION.NET) -- Silver Jews frontman David Berman tends to make origami out of established pop idioms, folding musical pages in on themselves. On the band's sixth album, he takes the jukebox-is-a-broken-heart's-best-friend model (a la Waylon Jennings' "The Wurlitzer Prize") and turns it inside out into a gesture of empathy for the machine itself. Berman disguises his pop hooks with smart, twisted lyrics ("Romance is the douche of the bourgeoisie" gets the oddball prize here) and his stiff, self-important-sounding, half-spoken vocal delivery. It's a perverse pleasure to hear him heavily intone a gleeful flourish like "strange victor-ee-ee." Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea is less burdened and more expansive than 2005's Tanglewood Numbers, and a far cry from the lo-fi, ragged-edged sound of the Jews' pre-Nashville recordings (Berman moved there early in the decade). Story-songs such as "Aloyisius, Bluegrass Drummer" and "San Francisco B.C." are colorful and droll, and there's an effervescent, early rock 'n' roll feel thrown in with the indie-country noir.

-- JEWLY HIGHT
Copyright c. 2008 No Depression Inc. and/or Jewly Hight.

Posted by Peter at 12:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 14, 2008

BASEBALL PROJECT
Vol. 1: Frozen Ropes And Dying Quails
(Yep Roc)

(NO DEPRESSION.NET) -- Frozen Ropes And Dying Quails is a well-planned and well-executed collection of, as the lingo-leaning title betrays, baseball songs. That deft presentation alone is worth applauding because a theme album can be a tricky proposition, with the need to dodge the twin curses of contrivance and too-cuteness. What elevates the accomplishment is the gusto with which this four-piece collective -- Steve Wynn, Scott McCaughey, Peter Buck, and Linda Pitmon -- celebrates the subject.

They also tap deep into a vein of childhood memories, as if they've been rifling though the aged shoeboxes in my closet filled with baseball cards -- a couple of which adorn the CD's back cover. Two of the first three words on the record are "Campy Campaneris," for crying out loud, and even throwaway lines like "that's Rick Wise (not Bobby Wine)" heat-seek the inner Topps collector that lives in many of us.
Yet this set somehow transcends nostalgia while still being oddly comforting, at least for baseball fans. Clearly we're in the hands of seasoned pros and not September call-ups (who nonetheless play with the enthusiasm of the latter). But we're also in the presence of baseball heads. Wynn and McCaughey, who split the songwriting duties, reveal themselves to be the kind of fanatics who have large passages of Ball Four committed to memory, who are happy to do the research necessary to advocate for Harvey Haddix, and who are well-versed in the tragic tale of Ed Delahanty. The song "The Yankee Flipper" even executes a double-play, its name-dropping geared toward both baseball geeks and music geeks.

Of course, without an entertaining musical backdrop, this would all just be a Sports Illustrated essay, but the sounds that drive Frozen Ropes And Dying Quails are more than easy on the ears. Not surprisingly, the affair comes off like a combination of R.E.M. at its hookiest, the Young Fresh Fellows at their most mature (which isn't very), the Byrds-in-the-Twilight-Zone adventures of the Minus 5, a cross-section of post-Dream Syndicate Wynn solo ventures, and Gutterball, the Class AAA supergroup led by Wynn and the late, wonderful Bryan Harvey.

What's most impressive is how the music tends to reflect the spirit and personalities of those honoroed in the songs. There's the Spanish lyrics and near-norteno of "Fernando" (as in Valenzuela) while the spectral "ahhhhh" background chorus of the Curt Flood tribute "Gratitude" approximates the sound of bitterness from the grave. The harmonica-blooming jangle of "Satchel Paige Said" feels as wise and witty as the song's star, even selling a line like "Satchel Paige and the Brown Bambino -- that's an everlasting battery" which lands somewhere between clever wordplay and groaner. And in a nifty study of contrasts, the catchiest number is about one of the surliest subjects, "Ted Fucking Williams". Sporting a heavily modified Bo Diddley -- or is that Bo Belinsky? -- beat, it's kind of "Rock And Roll Part 3 Or 4" for the non-masses.

The "Volume 1" designation in the title suggests that a new Baseball Project might arrive every year, just like spring training (barring the occasional work stoppage). One request from the grown-up kid with the shoeboxes: Next time out, would you consider a song about David Clyde, Freddie Patek, or the Alou Brothers?

-- RICK CORNELL
Copyright c. 2008 No Depression Inc. and/or Rick Cornell.

Posted by Peter at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 13, 2008

COLIN MELOY
Colin Meloy Sings Live!
(Kill Rock Stars)

(NO DEPRESSION.NET) -- As concert souvenirs go, this hodgepodge, recorded live by the Decemberists frontman during a 2006 solo trek, is not nearly as precious as Meloy's tour-only EPs of Morrissey and Shirley Collins favorites. Which is a boon or bust, depending on your degree of fanaticism. Casual buffs of the bookish indie-rocker will appreciate the broad program; die-hards can applaud the inclusion of rarities such as "The Bandit Queen" (found only on the vinyl version of Picaresque) and "Devil's Elbow", by his first band, Tarkio. Without support of a full ensemble, Meloy's distinctive vibrato is almost painfully prominent, but on the other hand, material unsuited to a proper Decemberists record is what really sells Sings Live!: A brief survey of the self-professed worst song Meloy ever wrote ("Dracula's Daughter"), humorous onstage patter, and the interpolation of snippets from R.E.M., Pink Floyd, and, most effectively, Fleetwood Mac (tacking "Dreams" on to "Here I Dreamt I Was An Architect").

-- KURT B. REIGHLEY
Copyright c. 2008 No Depression Inc. and/or Kurt B. Reighley.

Posted by Peter at 1:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 12, 2008

SCOTLAND BARR & THE SLOW DRAGS
All The Great Aviators Agree
(Monkey Barr)

(NO DEPRESSION.NET) -- You would think, judging by the luckless, 100-proof subjects on this album, that Scotland Barr has seen the underside of the bar and the soul-crushing side of relationships far too often to have retained a sense of humor, let alone to possess enough unpickled brain cells to recall more than a blurry kaleidoscope of disjointed disasters. Yet All The Great Aviators Agree, this Portland, Oregon, sextet's second disc, is chock-full of near-cinematic, often hilarious details served up with self-deprecating charm via Barr's rugged, Tom Russell-esque rasp.

There are countless memorable couplets citing wife-stealing, flat-chested women and naked waltzes, plus wry descriptions, from the Vatican ("It's a lot like they say -- it's big") to some of the most lovable, laughable losers in recent memory.

Barr's stories, tunes and vocals would be more than enough to sustain a crackerjack solo act, but it's all backed up by a fluid, fluent combo boasting ace chops and well-placed harmony vocals. The Slow Drags's sound -- highlighted by Chris Hubbard's rippling-water piano flights and the deft guitar interplay between Zach Hinkelman's electric and Bryan Daste's pedal steel -- seems weighted toward country-rock, but the overall flexibility and collective catholic tastes recall the heyday of British pub rock.

-- JIM MUSSER
Copyright c. 2008 No Depression Inc. and/or Jim Musser.

Posted by Peter at 2:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 10, 2008

MARK BRYAN
End Of The Front
(Artist Garage)

(NO DEPRESSION.NET) -- Mark Bryan is no Darius Rucker, which is perfectly fine. Unlike his Hootie & the Blowfish bandmate, Bryan's singing voice is less resonant, and yet it works for the guy. There's an easygoing quality that is more "let's jam in my garage" than "hey, I'm a rock star."

On End Of The Front, Bryan's second solo effort, the songwriter keeps things South Carolina simple, producing and recording the whole thing in his home studio just north of Charleston. Bryan is a huge fan of Americana, and the influences of that genre can be felt in his work, although End Of The Front is not really an Americana album.

The highlight is "Fork In The Road", on which Bryan duets with fellow South Carolinian Danielle Howle. The upbeat guitar riff and catchy chorus could easily have made that track a Hootie hit. "Hey Loretta" features the talents of Hank Futch and Gary Greene, who often play out with Bryan under the name Occasional Milkshake. "Living Through" sports an intricate melody featuring Bryan on banjo.

Fred LeBlanc from Cowboy Mouth produces and performs on three tracks; Bryan also calls in favors from Sam Bush and Bela Fleck on other songs. It's unintrusive music, yet End Of The Front is anything but throwaway.

-- DEVIN GRANT
Copyright c. 2008 No Depression Inc. and/or Devin Grant.

Posted by Peter at 11:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 9, 2008

TAB BENOIT
Night Train To Nashville
(Telarc)

(NO DEPRESSION.NET) -- No other blues musician channels the essence of Louisiana swamps -- all that warm, waterlogged muck and moss drooping from cypress trees -- quite like Tab Benoit. He nails it on four songs from this live collection: "Moon Coming Over The Hill", "Fever For The Bayou", "Muddy Bottom Blues" and "Stackolina". Collectively, they cover second-line to swamp boogie to snaking Cajun struts.

Benoit writes some potent songs, but the best things he has going for him are his grainy, humid drawl and his percussive way with a Stratocaster. He'll laze in a tree-shaded groove until he can't take the mugginess anymore, then he'll burst into a highly rhythmic solo (after all, he was a drummer first).

Louisiana R&B-pop band LeRoux backs him on this set, and Jimmy Hall, Kim Wilson, Johnny Sansone and others jump in on harp and vocals. For the most part, the guests are a welcome addition -- Hall and Wilson's playing brings a striking, caustic counterpart to Benoit's bright, salty guitar tone -- but Sansone's harp blowing steps on Benoit's singing and playing a bit too much during "Fever For The Bayou".

It's just plain natural to hear Benoit in a live setting, where the contrasts between laid-back grooves and heat-crazed solos are most intense, and everyone there is knee-deep in it with him.

-- JEWLY HIGHT
Copyright c. 2008 No Depression Inc. and/or Jewly Hight.

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July 8, 2008

DONNIE FRITTS
One Foot In The Groove
(LMR)

(NO DEPRESSION.NET) -- Starting off with a groove that lays N.C. Thurman's Hammond B-3 licks over Mike Dillon's drums and David Hood's bass, Donnie Fritts' One Foot In The Groove plays fine as a humane, southern-specific rehab record. So when the Alabama-born singer and songwriter declares, "Feelin' low and flyin' high/I didn't know what to do," or reaches out to "another brother down in the dumps," he makes amends, maybe.

Still, if you've been fortunate enough to have seen Fritts with the Decoys (his backing band here, augmented by the likes of Tony Joe White) rip it up live, you know how deep a pocket these musicians can create. The interplay among Hood, Dillon, and guitarists Scott Boyer and Kelvin Holly exemplifies the big-bottomed funk that makes Muscle Shoals the meeting place of Memphis, Caribbean and New Orleans rhythm-section traditions.

One Foot captures their perfectly cooked playing, with producer Dan Penn adding horn arrangements and Mickey Raphael's harmonica to a great set of songs. Fritts sounds like Levon Helm on "Don't Beat Around The Bush", in which bad old friends test his sympathy. "Been sittin' here for fifteen minutes/Talkin' to some fool on the phone/Wants me to send him some money," he complains. He sounds wistful on "My Friend" (a dead ringer for a Box Tops production) and represents himself in the case of his best friend and his wife on "Nothing But The Blues".

Best of all is "She's Got A Crush On Me", which finds Fritts on the receiving end of the kind of attention that temporarily single southern soul men sometimes attract. "She lives at the Sweetwater Trailer Park, lot number three/She goes to the Church of Christ/She chainsmokes Camel Lights/And she's got a crush on me," Fritts gamely sings. It's a wonderful moment on a funny, charmingly rueful record.

-- EDD HURT
Copyright c. 2008 No Depression Inc. and/or Edd Hurt.

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July 7, 2008

SHE & HIM
Volume One
(Merge)

(NO DEPRESSION.NET) -- Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward are both talented artists with reputations for integrity, good taste and choosing their projects carefully. This duo record had the potential to be either dazzling or a muddled mess. While Deschanel's a cappella bathroom duet on "Baby, It's Cold Outside" in the film Elf with Will Ferrell was downright charming, the rising starlet could be just another actor using her indie clout to churn out a sad vanity project.

Volume One ends up about midway between those two imagined polar possibilities. Deschanel's amiable vocals are, in fact, the highlight of the album. She shares some sparkly, pop-meets-country stylistic traits with the likes of Jenny Lewis and Neko Case, and going back further, with Petula Clark and Dusty Springfield. But her songwriting is either callow or shallow, depending on how patient or generous a listener you are.

Ward's intriguing guitar parts, string arrangements and other production nuances -- how much reverb is too much? -- cannot elevate the songs much beyond light pleasantries. Most interesting are their pseudo-duets on countrified covers of "You Really Got A Hold On Me" and "I Should Have Known Better", where you get to hear just how powerful and lovely Deschanel's voice is when she's tackling quality material.

-- SCOTT BRODEUR
Copyright c. 2008 No Depression Inc. and/or Scott Brodeur.

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July 6, 2008

KRIS DELMHORST
Shotgun Singer
(Signature Sounds)

(NO DEPRESSION.NET) -- When you strip your canvas way down, each splash of color you manage to work in has a dramatic and weighted impact. Kris Delmhorst beautifully flaunts that minimalist artistic approach on her latest release. Starting with the songs themselves, Delmhorst pares back her chord changes, often building around simple broken chords on a nylon-string guitar or a piano. This restraint allows Delmhorst's beguiling voice to sweep through her silvery melodies, with layers of vocal harmony added as the songs build. She and co-producer Sam Kassirer tastefully introduce bursts of subtle adornment throughout, with exotic percussion, organ, cello, electric guitar, vibraphone, and even guitar loops and record samples. "To The Wire", "1000 Reasons" and "Midnight Ringer", among the best tunes Delmhorst has ever recorded, exhibit this non-formulaic formula quite nicely, and they get better each time you revisit them.

-- SCOTT BRODEUR
Copyright c. 2008 No Depression Inc. and/or Scott Brodeur.

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July 5, 2008

LONGVIEW
Deep In The Mountains
(Rounder)

(NO DEPRESSION.NET) -- From Muleskinner and Old & In The Way to the Bluegrass Album Band and the Dreadful Snakes, bluegrass music has produced a handful of short-lived supergroups. Eleven years into their tenure, Longview has fared better than most. Deep In The Mountains, their first album in six years, also reflects a significant lineup change.

Veteran members Don Rigsby, James King and Marshall Wilborn are now joined by Lou Reid, Ron Stewart and J.D. Crowe. Although Longview is essentially a side project for everyone involved, the participants obviously take a great deal of pride in their work. Crowe, in particular, doesn't attach his name to anything unless it's top-quality.

The musicianship here is impeccable, especially Crowe's banjo picking and Stewart's spot-on fiddling. And in Rigsby, King and Reid, the group has three lead vocalists who are stylistically miles apart. The harmony combinations are plentiful, and Rigsby's keening tenor is, as always, a treat.

As with previous Longview projects, this album includes the occasional treasure buried alongside chestnuts from Jim & Jesse and the Louvin Brothers. Randall Hylton's "Room At The Top Of The Stairs", previously recorded by both Ralph Stanley and Leo Kottke, is as soulful as any bluegrass tune ever written. King's weathered rasp is the perfect vehicle for "Georgia Bound". Even Longview's take on "Old Joe Clark" has a few unexpected twists.

Some of the older rhythms and melodies can be a tad predictable. It's always nice to hear traditional music well played, but it's nice to be surprised, too.

-- DAVID BAXTER
Copyright c. 2008 No Depression Inc. and/or David Baxter.

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July 4, 2008

WACO BROTHERS
Waco Express: Live & Kickin' At Schubas Tavern
(Label)

(NO DEPRESSION.NET) -- If you subscribe to the dubious theory that most white folks should be banned from rapping, dabbling in the blues, or forming perma-peppy ska bands, it might follow that Brits shouldn't be tackling Americana. When you come from a country that knows nothing of lost highways or white-trash trailer parks, what can you possibly add to the country music canon? The Waco Brothers' new live album suggests that the answer is plenty.

In fairness, Wales-born Wacos founder Jon Langford is at this point almost as American as apple pie and Smith & Wesson handguns. Initially semi-famous as the drummer for Britpunks the Mekons, Langford has called Chicago home since the mid-'90s. The Waco Brothers have been a going concern for much of that time, and while they've never risen above cult-hero status, this superbly recorded live document will leave you wondering why.

Whether making out like a rocket sled on rails on "Cowboy In Flames" or going full twang on "Death Of Country Music", the band is shit-hot. With eight albums to draw from, the Brothers serve up all killer, no filler, going full-bore from the moment they rip into the set-opening rave-up "Waco Express". As much as Langford sounds like a pub-dwelling English punter in that song's spoken introduction, the second he starts singing, you'll swear he was raised by George Jones in a Texas honky-tonk. Yes, for one gloriously scorching hour, a Brit shows the world how Americana is meant to be done.

-- MIKE USINGER
Copyright c. 2008 No Depression Inc. and/or Mike Usinger.

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July 3, 2008

COUNTING CROWS
Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings
(Geffen)

(NO DEPRESSION.NET) -- Counting Crows is a great band that has prospered while attracting the slings and arrows of critics and hipsters alike. My theory is that because the Crows emerged amidst the raw reverberations of early-'90s grunge, their classic-rock instrumental expertise and singer-songwriter Adam Duritz's moody, melodic gifts were deemed suspect, if not downright square. The Crows also suffered in that everything after its critically-acclaimed, T Bone Burnett produced, 7-million-selling August And Everything After debut seemed to somehow pale in comparison.

But one could also argue that the band's five studio albums are all pretty good, including the new Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings, a concept album (how old-fashioned!) about hedonistic indulgence and the reflections that come on the morning after. Rockers such as "1492" and "Cowboys" gallop on a well-orchestrated whirlwind of guitars; the Crows are also big on keyboards, and believe that snappy arrangements go a long way towards selling a song. Because Duritz's vocal phrasing is built into his melodies, his words fairly embrace the hooks of tunes such as "Hanging Tree" and "Anyone But You".

Duritz's lyrics can certainly be self-involved -- "Los Angeles", which references the singer's tabloid love affairs, is a cheesy dud -- but he's also a far more interesting navel-gazer than most any celebrated emo artist. And because Duritz is also a singer in a band, songs such as "Sundays" and "You Can't Count On Me" manage to be personal tunes that also bear a group identity. The Crows conclude with "Come Around", a joyously jangling gem that sounds good on any day of the week.

-- JOHN MILWARD
Copyright c. 2008 No Depression Inc. and/or John Milward.

Posted by Peter at 10:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 2, 2008

DOYLE LAWSON & QUICKSILVER
Help Is On The Way
(Horizon)

(NO DEPRESSION.NET) -- Though it's been barely a year since Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver's last release, there's been a thorough change in personnel, with but one member remaining. Three departing members, including longtimer Jamie Dailey, have been replaced, and for the first time, a sixth player has been added (resonator guitarist Josh Swift).

In some spheres, such changes would guarantee a significant shift in sound and style, but not here. Lawson has recorded nearly a score of all-gospel projects since 1981's Rock My Soul -- not to mention an almost equal number of mostly secular bluegrass ones -- and while the Quicksilver sound has gone through some mutations, Doyle keeps a firm hand on the reins. In that respect, then, while there are variations in vocal tones and arrangement approaches, the underlying foundation is unmistakable and instantly identifiable, with new members Alan Johnson (fiddle), Carl White (bass) and Joey Cox (banjo) easily finding (or being given) places therein.

This kind of top-down approach may be hard for some roots-music fans to swallow, and so too can be the Quicksilver sound itself, for its brilliance is the result of some mighty intensive polishing. Though they spring from the same sources and are in every meaningful respect equally authentic, there's a big distance between the raw heterophony of a Ralph Stanley gospel quartet and the refinement of a Quicksilver number, and those seeking the former may well be disappointed by the latter.

At the end of the day, though, that's their problem, not Lawson's. Heading for his 30th anniversary as a bandleader, he's an inescapably important figure in bluegrass, not least for the exemplary blend of precision and passion that's to be found on Help Is On The Way.

-- JON WEISBERGER
Copyright c. 2008 No Depression Inc. and/or Jon Weisberger.

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July 1, 2008

IKE REILLY
Poison The Hit Parade
(Rock Ridge)

(NO DEPRESSION.NET) -- "Who says you can't take a shot at the President/Just say you're sorry and be on your way." Looking at the song titles on the new album from the Ike Reilly Assassination (though only the singer-songwriter Reilly is named on the front cover this time, his band is still on board), one could be forgiven for assuming that lyric is from "New Assassination Blues". Instead, it's part of the ever-elusive swirl of images in "Fish Plant Rebellion", which has something to do with labor unions and cuckoldry at a fish processing factory.

As he has demonstrated on his previous albums, especially 2005's Junkie Faithful and 2007's We Belong To The Staggering Evening, Ike Reilly assembles words as much for the sound they make together as for the immediately obvious meaning they provide. There is communication here, but you get it from the way the thick, fuzzed-out guitar/bass/keyboards/drums lineup supports Reilly's Dylan-with-a-libido vocal approach, and the way they emphasize individual phrases in the course of a song.

Take "Hip Hop Thighs #16". The music is a feel-good jaunt, almost an Irish folk tune with a meandering, sing-song melody meant for dancing a jig. Near as I can figure, the song -- which begins with an actual voice-mail from the late Joe Strummer of the Clash -- has something to do with the intoxication provided by music, friendship and sex. There's Strummer in love with hip-hop and Patsy Cline, trying to write a song as good as "I Walk The Line". Amid good-natured ribbing between friends, there is a strong undercurrent and sometimes just plain current of desire.

-- STEVE PICK
Copyright c. 2008 No Depression Inc. and/or Steve Pick.

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