Back in mid-October Chad Price and a merry crew departed from the offices of Suburban Home Records in a party van with the intent of doing 10 shows at 10 different breweries in support if Chad’s new album, Smile Sweet Face (9b.net review). Our good internet buddy (and stellar show taper) James Freeman from That’s The Thing About That went along for the ride to record the shows. He culled those recordings down to the best from it all and released it earlier this week and he was kind enough to allow me to repost it over here. I hope y’all enjoy it as much as I am:
Also, if you miss Drag The River proper (full band) as much as I do James has a show from this past August featuring a full band. You can find it here.
I don’t really have anything to add to his posting about the album except for a possible “yeah! what he said!” but I do have the next best thing…A FULL ALBUM STREAM.
Drag The River/All singer Chad Price’s solo debut is in the running for album of the year and as far as I am concerned it’s there without a doubt. I’ve had this album for a few days now and I have been trying to put how I felt about into words and failing. To start with I love the album from start to finish but I haven’t been able to find the words to impart how Smile Sweet Face makes me feel. I can’t review this album by just telling you how cool Chad’s lyrics are or how the understated acoustic accompaniment sounds amazing. There is something more to this album than just sounding good and having the right hook at the right place. It makes me feel something and last night I was finally able to put my finger on what that thing is. It feels like coming down…
I don’t mean it feels like crashing after a weekend of doing blow like a Wall Street trader in the nineties. I mean that Chad Price has created a mood across this album that feels like the sweat filled moment after sex where you fall back on the bed exhausted but more than satisfied. The slow chords and Chad’s heartfelt vocals slow everything around you down just a little bit. The opening line in The Cross is “It feels good when the sun’s out, feels good with my arms outstretched on this cross” and only gets better from there. With the mood waxing and waning across these ten tracks I suppose this album won’t be one that everyone likes. Actually I know it won’t because my brother just didn’t get it and all I could do is stare at him dumbfounded and confused. I guess if you are anything like him then you probably won’t feel any empathy when Chad belts out “Between church and a meth lab / can’t go on living without her laugh”. If you fall into that crowd then I truly feel sorry for you.
But you already knew I would like Chad’s solo effort considering how much I dig Drag The River didn’t you? What surprised me is how much this wasn’t a Drag The River album. I expected more Caleb’s Grave and what I got was something completely different. This is a different baring of the soul than the stuff Chad has done with DTR and rightfully so. This isn’t DTR minus Jon Snodgrass it is a powerful and moving collection of stripped down, soul baring, sometimes keening tracks that shouldn’t be missed.
You can pick this up over at Suburban Home in just about any format you like. I recommend grabbing the deal, I don’t know how long they’ll offer it for, where you get access to everything they release for life starting with this very record…
Suburban Home Records announced that Chad’s debut solo album, Smile Sweet Face, has been given an official street date of October 20th. You will be able to preorder the album on August 21st (no mention if you’ll get a digital copy then) and there will be the normal package options including tshirts, beer coozies, pint glasses and what not.
More importantly, this ensures that Chad will have the album when he rolls through Florida on the Revival II Tour:
11/20/2009 Gainesville, FL @ Common Grounds 11/21/2009 St. Petersburg, FL @ State Theatre
11/22/2009 Orlando, FL @ The Social
