The Last Of Us
Under the radar indie reviews. The December Backlog is now officially concluded. Bring on list week!
OK, this is it. The final installment of the December Backlog! I do hope that the abrupt shift into a a review outlet that decided to cram essentially the entire years worth of albums into one month was not off putting. Rest assured (after we finish up list week) January should be business as usual. Expect roughly two posts per month. Sometimes one of them will be reviews, but the broad focus will continue to be longform general interest. The reason why I embarked on this experiment was because I felt I was not listening to enough new music. As things turned out, by the years end, I crammed in far more new music than typical, almost completely swallowing up my old music consumption. I guess the proper balance has yet to be found. I greatly enjoyed engaging with one of the better years in country music we've had in recent memory. I guess I just thought it would be worthwhile to try and document it. The benefit of sharpening my review skills was an added benefit. Hope you enjoyed.
Joe
JD Clayton
I reallly love how the intro track sets the tone… More albums should use the length afforded to them by modern album size conventions to add depth to the experience like that. Related, the album gives all the songs sufficient time to breathe with long instrumental solos. A luxury of the modern album process.
As for the sound....Organic, mellow, traditional country. Some folk with a little smidgen of jam band tendencies thrown in the mix as well. Clayton's personality really shines throughout the project. Lyrically it runs thin and feels stretched out a drop by the end of the project. Still, on sound and vibes alone it more than deserves a second look. Greatly enjoyed the perspective portrayed in a few of the songs. American Millionaire, Different Kind Of Simple Life.
Robbie Fulks
Fulks usually travels in the indie folk and 90s alt country circles. Always had some pieces of bluegrass influence with his music but by and large was much more into progressive genres. On his return, he shows an understanding of what makes the genre work. Yes it has a past focus, it is traditional, and most innovation should be done in the subtleties. This is precisely what he does.
It is a largely upbeat look at his past with some tongue in cheek moments and some heavily serious moments for balance. Not my favorite bluegrass record this year, but it is quite good. Vocals aren't the typical bluegrass high lonesome sound and when he stretches himself in spots it shows. On his website it says he composed a few of the songs with a particular singer in mind, and he took it over himself after that fellow tragically passed.
Enjoyable sense of perspective. Genuinely feels at home. His forays into more serious and personal material work well, but it can still still be enjoyed in the car as pleasant and well executed bluegrass. Good versatility.
Colby Acuff
This may come across as unduly harsh, but the overall feeling I got after listening to this album was that it was aiming for a western cowboy presentation. Crucial word is aiming. It didn't land for me. This isn't because it lacked the pizzazz and unique production choices of Munsick, but more because I didn't sense the deep throated authenticity of culture of Wall. I really want to give the deluxe album a listen to see if having more material fleshed things out better.
Acuff has been hovering around the edges of my circles for a while now and it seems as if this has allowed him to break out. There were some great moments, specifically songs like Boy And A Bird Dog. I don’t know why it didn't resonate with me. Perhaps it felt a little too spare, which often is not a problem because I appreciate the simplicity, but in this particular instance, nothing stuck out enough about the accompaniment that made it particularly memorable.
Acuff has a laconic sensibility and a laid back presentation. Upon reflection, I think that approach, in combination with the spare acoustic and basic country palate, just didn't bring enough to the table to grab me. When the song is presented in a chilled manner, and accompanied by subdued acoustics, it falls on the lyrics to keep attention. Although there were lyrical highlights, I don’t feel it came together enough to make it out of the pack in a very crowded year
Cordovas
Not a band that is particularly well-known. They've been kicking around for about a decade, but none of their albums seem to have caught steam in the Americana space they fall into. I personally came across them a few years ago with their song High Kind Of Feeling. It was an excellent 60s and 70s rock inspired Americana song with a fun flair.
The record just came out that this year certainly seems to hold true to that M.O. It is a shorter album, only thirty-five minutes and yet it possesses all of the aspects of the band that I enjoyed in the past.
Sound wise, Cordovas possesses a Motown meets classic rock vibe that permeates the record. This is discussed on the open track Fallen Angels Of Rock And Roll. Works excellently as a sonic introduction to the project. The album balances clever, but not dense lyricism with an enjoyable display of diversity in this world of 60s and 70s inspired Americana. The lead singer's voice reminds me of Pat Green with a little bit of Cadillac Three rasp added to it. Sky, Land, And Sea as well as Deep River were two of my favorites. Especially notable for their vivid imagery.
As a whole, the project is very relatable, very enjoyable. It’s not an album that will elevate their profile, but it is still an enjoyable listen. Unfortunately, in a space which has been very strong this year, it may not have the desired commercial effects. Still a very enjoyable half hour.
Victoria Bailey
An elite discovery this year. I only came across Victoria Bailey’s country/gospel traditional record late in the year. There is a strong 1950s element here, not precisely like her prior record which was more California Bakersfield infused. This has some classic country pop, some bluegrass, a lotta organic old-school textures. They are well executed, but will occasionally border on being a bit hokey. Then again, this is country music which often can be hokey. I particularly liked her version of Waiting At The Gate which provides a real sense of closure to a journey. That is a very implicit idea in this record. The wandering spirit looking for something. The project seems part of her personal trajectory within her faith tradition. It may not be for everyone because of the stylings and topic choices, but if you are willing to give it an ear, there is a lot of universal and relatable messages within.
The Steel Woods
This should have been in the country rock roundup, but I didn't have the time to give it a proper listen and wanted to get it out there. They are thoroughly steeped in southern and country rock. The lead vocals have grain and rasp, but not at the expense of range and capability. The riffs are crunchy and satisfying. Rock as a genre requires excess. The Steel Woods do that properly.
The enjoyment isn’t merely on a shallow sonic level. The writing is carefully crafted and reflects the deep storytelling abilities of the band. Even with the loss of longtime band member Jason “Rowdy” Cope, the project still manages to keep the high level expected of the band. At first listen, and I’ll be perfectly honest, I did not pick up on this until I saw it in a review. There is a loose narrative structure in the album. What seems to be separate songs, all are revealed near the end of the album to be reflections on different points in the protagonist's life. A unique and fulfilling album structure that is satisfying regardless of how deep you get into the album.
It can be enjoyed on its basic level, reveling in the hard hitting drums and wailing electric axes, it can be enjoyed as a smorgasbord of individually excellent songs, and it can be enjoyed as a deeply thematic project. It took a few rounds, but it is sneakily one of the better projects this year.
The most enjoyable aspect of the album is the depth and breadth of each song. The entire album clocks in at nearly an hour, in spite of only having ten songs on the tracklist. Instead of cramming as many songs as possible on the project in hopes of chasing streaming, the Steel Woods eschew modern song length trends and devote a whopping five and a half minutes per song! Each song is weighty, with a fullness accorded to each and every aspect. No truncated intros or neglected solos. Verses build on each other, bridges breath and solos take on a life of their own.
Brent Cobb
This project has been receiving hype as one of the better projects of the year, and I certainly agree. Brett Cobb is well known for his songwriting acumen and has put out some of the better projects the past few years. The aspect that brings the most enjoyment on the project is certainly the atmosphere. There is a very loose and relaxed vibe that permeates the entire project and it is clearly something which is done with intention. Starting from the very first track, Southern Star, an ethos of slowness and intentionality is portrayed. A southern perspective, as in a languid summer evening, ice cubes melting into a glass of tea as the evening slowly trickles into nightfall.
Unlike other projects in this amalgamation of country/blues/rock which we’ve seen already with Jason Eady and Adam Hood, Cobb manages to hit the balance. It is neither as single note as the Eady project was, nor is it lacking punch like Hood. As a intentionally melodic and mellow project, it is well suited for the slower tempo music and stylings all throughout. This stands as an authentic and open portrayal of the southern cultures positive side, good for those who are fans of southern culture, as well for those who are eagerly enjoying the resurgence of traditionally inclined music. His song When Country Came to Town explicitly frames himself within this burgeoning movement and does as good a job as any at highlighting all the small steps and big artists that paved the way for the current scene.
Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors
Something we have not talked about yet on the blog is Americana’s ongoing identity crisis (not to be confused with America’s ongoing crisis and that’s about as political as I’ll get), but Americana started almost as a parallel movement to what was taking place in Nashville. Jason And The Scorchers and Gram Parsons fused different sounds than the ones Nashville was going after. Nashville aimed for sophisticated country pop. Jason And The Scorchers aimed for fiery country rock.
As time developed, offshoots of this came forth. Now if this sounds no different than the story of how 2010s independent country developed into the force that it is now, you would be correct. History matters. In many ways, the small movements of individual artists and bands in the 1970s and 1980s laid the groundwork for the movement we have nowadays.
In the 2010s, as the movement had matured further, a split happened in the non-Nashville styled country music. The schism was, sketching things very broadly, had on one side, those who pulled from other areas of “American music“ but still kept country country music as its base, (and some instances, this was plainly retro style country music which was far more country than anything on radio). On the other side, presumably related to the folk pop burst in the beginning of the decade, Americana started to include not just country and folk as its bases, but really anything could be the base aside from the popular genres of Pop, Hip Hop and dance music. So long as it had any vague sort of connection to roots music it worked, whether that be blues or R&B or even gospel.
This grew to the point where music that would never have been considered remotely Americana a few years ago, is now winning high ranking music awards in the Americana categories. In fact, there was backlash about the space broadening to the point of having no identity with its original country and folk based roots. Dale Watson opened up the Ameripolitan awards specifically because of this concern. Artists like Tyler Childers and Sturgill Simpson disliked being out into the box of Americana when they felt it did not represent them properly. It is a much longer story, but the purpose of bringing it up to show the result of the genre confusion.
Drew Holcomb and his band, which is in Nashville, but realistically sounds like an amalgamation of The Killers, Mumford & Sons, and Coldplay, with one song or two songs sounded like George Jones, for no apparent reason is considered to be Americana. Why? Dunno. It’s a slickly produced pop rock album. It isn’t bad for what passes as pop rock these days. There's an upbeat and positive outlook on life that permeates the record from songs like Gratitude to Dance With Everybody. It might be a bit on the nose at times, but positivity needn't the depth and subtlety that darkness and angst call for. Holcomb and his band perform admirably.
The Dirty Guv’nuhs
This is a short EP from a group that I have not heard of before, but it came across my radar. It’s an enjoyable listen, definitely vibes first. Reminded me a bit of the Cordovas from earlier on this list, but perhaps with a bit more flair and a decidedly more modern execution. The album definitely falls into the Americana mishmash with a lot of varying genre influence, but it is presented in such an energetic manner that you immediately get swept into the enthusiasm. No Way To Be is just a frolicking, energetic, buoyant track. Out On The Road is a lonesome crooning track with a very expressive instrumental solo that feels nearly like its own verse. The highlight is easily the ensemble track Don’t Do It featuring Maggie Rose, Wes Bailey and Rob Ingraham. It's an upbeat, bluesy, mid tempo groove that is a creative twist on a “woe is me” track. Those usually are hard to land without sounding pathetic. This absolutely slaps though. The immediate transition to a slow moving smooth rnb track also featuring Maggie Rose is a testament to the versatility of the Dirty Guv’nuhs. Really loved it.
Thanks for reading,
Joe
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Photo credit Persia Lou via Google images. You'd be surprised how many pictures of filing cabinets are out there.