Potlatch - A feast among Native American groups, during which great quantities of food and goods are given to the guests in order to gain prestige for the host.

I’ll be honest, I had to look that up. Normally I don’t bother looking up album titles I don’t understand, but I’ve also had one hell of a time spelling this particular one correctly and was hoping that by learning the definition I would also get the spelling down pat.

The Boston-based Bean Pickers Union is Paul Gallo (drums, vocals), Gary Goodlow (guitar), Alan Levesque (bass, vocals) and Chuck Melchin (guitar, mandolin, vocals). Potlatch is their offer to us, and from the moment I saw the dilapidated barn on the cover of the cd, I knew what I wanted from this album. I wanted bitter stories of the death of the American dream, I wanted tales of murder, drinking and bitterness. By the time I got to the halfway point of the album and heard “Independence Day”, with Chuck dropping the lyrics, “it was a small block 327,”1 I was completely won over. “Photograph” and “Warrior” had already gotten my attention, but that line sealed the deal. This album was on the fast-track to the ninebullets Essential Listening list, and I figured that if the album played out the way it had started, it was gonna be one of my favorite albums I had heard this year. (It is)

Twangville has a review of the cd where they say, “If music is at its finest when it paints a picture, then this album is the rural equivalent of a Hopper painting.” That’s a really good description. The songs really remind of the kind of stuff Chris Knight does. Distinct stories carried by simple but equally powerful musical arrangements. For a debut these guys have set one hell of a bar for themselves…I can’t wait to hear what they do next.

Bean Pickers Union - Independence Day
Bean Pickers Union - Photograph
Bean Pickers Union - Warrior

Bean Pickers Union on myspace, Buy Potlatch

1If you are wondering why the reference to an engine would seal the deal for me it’s pretty simple. My next car will be a 67 Camaro and I want one with the legendary small block 327.