The Drive-By Truckers return today with their 10th studio album, The Big To-Do, and they managed to bring some of the rawk back, as well. I gotta be honest, after the last two studio releases I was pretty sure my torrid love affair with the band was in its setting sun. It seemed that marriages, kids, label disputes and time had worn the edge off the band, and I really wasn’t digging the new direction very much. That feeling was reinforced when The Fine Print came out and I was reminded of how good the band had been and how subpar I felt that the last two albums had been. Then I read somewhere that Patterson said their new album was gonna be a “return to rock” and, despite my efforts otherwise, I started to look forward to the release of The Big To-Do.

So I guess the question to ask is, is this the return to rock the band promised? The best answer I can come up with is that it depends on your reference point. I mean, it’s not the rock record that SRO, Decoration Day or The Dirty South were, but when set beside A Blessing and A Curse and Brighter Than Creation’s Dark, its rock is undeniable and quite welcome. The standout tracks on the album are Cooley’s homage to a stripper, “Birthday Boy”, Patterson’s working man’s anthem, “This Fucking Job” and a redone (I know this song from somewhere) version of “After The Scene Dies”. There are stories of excess like “The Fourth Night of My Drinking”, of murder like “The Wig He Made Her Wear”, and a particularly touching ballad to Cooley’s son called “Eyes Like Glue” closes the album. There are moments where you’re left scratching your head, though. Both of Shonna’s contributions feel out of place and really kill the album’s pace, as does Patterson’s “The Flying Wallendas”.

In the end, yes, I think this is a return to rock for the Truckers. I don’t think we’ll ever get another album like The Dirty South or its predecessors from the band and that’s okay. They’re not those people (or that band) anymore, and as people change and grow, so does their music. I’m just glad to see we’re not gonna be stuck with ABAAC’s and BTCD’s from here on out, and with that in mind I’ll say The Big To-Do is essential listening.

Drive-By Truckers – This Fucking Job
Drive-By Truckers – Birthday Boy

The Drive-By Truckers Official Site, The Drive-By Truckers on myspace, Buy The Big To-Do

Stream the entire album:

Look, it’s really really rare that I fall stupid in love with an album. It probably comes down to the fact that I just might hear more new music in a week than most people do in 6 months, but the point is, I can get pretty jaded. That said, Otis Gibb’s new album, Joe Hill’s Ashes, walked into my head, didn’t say a single word and whooped my blogger jadedness and said “You will love me now!” And love it then, I did.

When I wrote about Otis’ last album, When Grandpa Walked A Picket Line, I said, “if Todd Snider and Otis Gibbs could make a baby it would be the Woody Guthrie, Hunter S. Thompson and the Jack Kerouac of its generation.” At the time I was pointing towards Otis’ political leanings and Todd’s wit. Joe Hill’s Ashes has treated me to a brand new appreciation for Otis’ pure songwriting ability. That coupled with his voice, a voice that invites you into its sunny 78 degree porch for Old Fashioneds and asks you to stay and spin yarns, makes this an album that immediately feels comfortable. As awesome as that is, had this been the first Otis Smith Gibbs album I’d ever heard, I’d have been more apt to juxtapose him with Seasick Steve.

Okay, I’m gonna gonna go old school with y’all. If you were reading this site back in 2k7 you were really well versed in my midnight drunken ramblings sans an editor or a sober eye prior to posting so you should be (albeit: rusty) used to this…This album is fucking fantastic. I wanna be more “professional” about it, but I can’t. It’s stupid how good it is. If I were still getting a regular paycheck that allowed me to go to bars, I’d be passing CD-R’s (yes, I do that) of this album out to people, saying, “This album is by a guy called Otis Gibbs and it’s fucking fantastic!.” If they asked what it sounded like I’d say, “Go home and listen to it, if you like it I’ll pass along similar artists.”

So, Otis Gibbs – Joe Hill’s Ashes. Fucking fantastic. Essential Listening. And available for streaming. Listen. Love. Buy. Burn a CD for your bar mates. This is how we make our music a movement.

< /drunken diatribe >

Otis Gibbs – Ballad of Johnny Crooked Tree
Otis Gibbs – Kansas City
Otis Gibbs – Joe Hill’s Ashes

Otis Gibbs’ Official Site, Otis Gibbs on Bandcamp, Buy Joe Hill’s Ashes

It’s been too long since we wrote about a new album of Fox Hunt material. There was the America’s Working cd of traditional covers and it was fantastic, but this, this is where it’s at. The Fox Hunt, playing Fox Hunt songs. Songs of mourning, bleakness, broken hearts, substance abuse and the optimism of getting over it.

When we last saw an album of originals from The Fox Hunt it was with me awarding them album of the year in 2007. Upon their return, not too much has changed with their overall sound. They’re still that same string band with that same delicate sound, hooks as catchy as H1N1, and some damned fine harmonies if I do say so myself. Now, you could be reading that and wondering when the inevitable “they haven’t grown within their sound” pan is coming. Truth is, it’s not going to. I mean, I named their last album of originals the best album of 2007. I didn’t want change. I’d have been pissed if there would have been wholesale changes. I wanted another solid album and I’m proud to announce that the guys did just that. It’s a shoe-in for the ninebullets Essential Listening list and a definite contender for my Top 10 of the year.

In closing, I’ll say Long Way To Go will be another album for The Fox Hunt fans to love, listen to and sing along with for many months to come. For non-Fox Hunt fans…well, it’s obvious that you haven’t heard them yet and this album is as good as any to get you started.

The Fox Hunt – It Suits Me
The Fox Hunt – No Penance
The Fox Hunt – Screw Me Up

The Fox Hunt’s Official Site, The Fox Hunt on myspace, Buy Long Way To Go

As a side note: I swear to god, I’ll see these guys at SxSW.. Come hell or high water. It’ll happen.

Fox Hunt guys, if you’re reading this: Wanna come to Florida to play the ninebullets 4th Anniv. Party in October?

I’m going to keep this relatively brief because if you know anything at all about the Preservation Hall Jazz band, you know it’s a brilliant record.

So, if you enjoy jazz, swing, blues or anything at all about American Roots music, and you enjoy hearing your favorite songs performed by an incredibly eclectic and talented collection of artists, backed by the best jazz ensemble in America, then this is a record you need to own. You’ll probably also want to buy several additional copies so you can distribute them to any friends who may have been physically incapacitated and, thus, incapable of purchasing this Essential Listening album.

If you’re not interested in the history and tradition of American music, or in contributing your money to the preservation of an American institution, then you’ll probably want to continue listening to whatever Starbucks tells you would best complement your double tall, nonfat Grande Caramel Latte.

Preservation Hall Jazz Band with Tom Waits – “Tootie Ma Is A Big Fine Thing” (from Preservation)

Preservation Hall Jazz Band with Jason Isbell – “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out” (from Preservation)

Joe Pug is infuriatingly good.

Let me clarify. If you’re a fellow songwriter, Joe Pug is infuriatingly good. Gifted with razor-sharp wit, vivid, eloquent lyricism and a voice that echoes the younger incarnations of Prine and Dylan, Joe Pug makes other songwriters – most of whom will spend their entire lives trying to write songs half as good as Pug’s – furious. If you’re somebody who simply listens to and enjoys music, there’s nothing infuriating about Pug; he’s just a Godsend.

After the staggering brilliance of Pug’s debut EP, Nation of Heat, his first full-length LP, Messenger, could have been a colossal letdown, simply because Pug set expectations so high. It is anything but. Messenger is a collection of ten literate, poetic gems, brimming over with wit, wisdom and imagery. At 25 years old, Pug has filled his first two releases with a lifetime’s worth of brilliance, setting the bar incredibly high for himself, and damn near unreachably high for any other songwriter of his generation. He is, as they say, the Real Deal.

Take for instance the coming-of-age anthem “Not So Sure.” Pug casually tosses off the admission that he “undressed somebody’s daughter, then complained about her looks,” which seems simple enough until you stop to consider that he has, in less than ten words, captured everything worth saying about the mercurial and dismissive nature of young romance. That’s something of a feat for anyone else. For Pug, it is one of dozens of lines that distill the countless nuances of life down to simple, undeniable truths. To say this is not an easy task for a writer is like saying a 102 MPH fastball is moving “pretty fast.”

If there is one knock on Messenger, and even this is a bit of a reach, it is that the arrangements are very much “stock” roots music. The pedal steel comes in exactly when you think it will, and the accompanying electric guitar plays the lick you expect it to. For anyone else, it would just be a matter of a clean arrangement but for a songwriter of Pug’s considerable gifts, it seems something of a disappointment.

Nitpicking notwithstanding, Pug’s album will find its way to numerous Best of 2010 lists as well as Essential Listening lists, and rightfully so. Soon, he’ll have only himself to compete with.

Joe Pug – “Not So Sure” (from Messenger)

Joe Pug – “The Door Is Always Open” (from Messenger)

Tim Barry’s third studio effort, 28th & Stonewall, was released a couple of weeks ago and Romeo and I have been exchanging thoughts on it ever since. We did it through Google Wave, and now I am gonna attempt to assemble those thoughts into a concise and tight piece that does the album the justice it deserves, though perhaps “deserves” is too weak of a word. 28th and Stonewall, like Tim’s albums before and the man himself, doesn’t just sit back and take what’s coming. It steams forward, taking its respect and beating you into submission with raw power and honest emotion.

The first two tracks from the album that were released are “Thing of the Past” and “Memento Mori”. “Thing of the Past” is a highly produced, upbeat track about the excess and materialism of society and Tim’s aversion to it, while “Memento Mori” is a much more raw glimpse into the psyche of Tim, with a musical backing that firmly embraces Tim’s punk background. These two songs got me to thinking, and as I said to RSV, “I think Tim should just stop giving his albums titles. They should just be, ‘The Tao of Tim Barry Vol. 1 (2,3,4, etc.)’…They’re like self-help books put to music.” Romeo was in full agreement, adding, “I can see that. They are not ‘albums’ as much as they are sort of a journey through Tim’s mind at the time. With this one we start out with a juke and jive on “Thing of the Past”, slip into some damn serious anger with “Prosser’s Gabriel”, slide into N’awlins groove with “Will Travel”, head into some talking blues with “Downtown Blues“, and then close it out with the tongue-in-cheek “Bus Driver”. It’s more like a stream of consciousness session than an album in the traditional sense, but most of his are like that.” My understanding is that 28th and Stonewall was written and recorded in a 3 week stint while Tim was off the road. I think that style of immediacy really helps lend to the explosion of thoughts, anger, philosophy and emotion that have so defined Tim’s sound throughout the years.

While much about Tim’s new album follows his usual modus operandi, it is not without growth. As I touched on earlier, “Thing of the Past” is the most radio friendly (worthy!) song Tim’s ever put out, replete with a stellar production and catchy hooks, not to mention the addition of new instruments throughout the album such as…horns? What? Yup. The new Tim Barry album has horns. I find this especially amusing following all the scuttlebutt about the horns on the new Lucero album. During my conversation with RSV I said, “I mean, it won’t get nearly the run that the new Lucero did but, Hey Y’all…the new Tim Barry album has horns! I think the horns and strings in some of the tracks really do a lot to support the songs instead of (like with Lucero) becoming a focal point of the songs.” RSV agreed adding, “It’s more subtle than the Lucero addition, but it seems to stand out more. I think this is because Tim’s stuff was so much more stripped down than Lucero’s to begin with. It’s a bigger jump, but Tim did it with a whole damn lot of style. I mean, “Will Travel” is totally a N’awlin’s closing time song. It’s more than horns, though, it’s that delta blues piano, the way the horns are dirty and wandering, and the fullness of the whole addition.”

So this bears the question, is this the best Tim Barry album to date? Admittedly, I wasn’t a fan of Manchester when it came out. It really took seeing Tim live for me to “get it”, after which I went back and listened to Manchester again, falling head over heels in love, and ditto for his back catalog. But when it comes to asking if this is his “best” album to date, I keep coming up with “yes” and I really can’t envision an end of the year Top 5 list in this genre that wouldn’t have this album on it. However, when I asked RSV where he thought it slotted, he was a little more pensive, replying, “I am torn on it. It may be odd, but the top of my list right now is Laurel St. Demo, but 28th and Stonewall isn’t any less amazing. It may take some time, but I wouldn’t be shocked if it ended up my favorite Tim Barry album at least until the next one. I also don’t see a top 5 without this one in it either. It’s only February but everyone else has a long way to go to catch up with Tim. I have high hopes for some, but I think this album will be in rarefied company come December.”

Ranking within the Barry discography aside, there is little doubt that 28th & Stonewall is Essential Listening and a sure shot for a Top 5 album of the year slotting for me. Good luck with the other four slots, music world.

Tim Barry – Thing of the Past
Tim Barry – Memento Mori
Tim Barry – Downtown VCU

Tim Barry’s Official Site, Tim Barry on myspace, Buy 28th & Stonewall

Well. Fuck me.

One of the things I learned in school is that journalists (and I use the term loosely) are supposed to create a subjective distance between themselves and their subjects. One doesn’t say, “I think,” or “it seems to me.” One leaves oneself out of the equation entirely. I’m going to give it to you straight, there is not a chance I’m going to be able to do that.

I’ll start by addressing Glossary directly.

Dear Glossary, you make no-frills, unabashed rock n’ roll records with just enough elements of classic pop and country to keep me honest. Also, you named your record after a phrase from Cormac McCarthy’s novel, The Road. So I guess my question is, did I somehow create you? How is it that you know exactly what I’m looking for in a band? You know what, Glossary, don’t answer that. I prefer an air of mystery.

Feral Fire is as immediately arresting and impressive an album as I have heard since I discovered Six String Drag’s swan song, High Hat. Frontman and chief songwriter Joey Kneiser describes Feral Fire as an album about “figuring out everything is so massive and you’re so small,” and, as Kneiser and wife Kelly harmonize over the mammoth sound their band creates, it’s tough to imagine anything seeming large by comparison.

Whether offering perspective (“Bend With the Breeze”), or freewheeling advice (“Save Your Money for the Weekend”), Kneiser’s lyrics are so well-framed by his bandmates that he could be reading the fine print on a life insurance policy and it would still be compelling. The band is just that good.

With Feral Fire, Glossary has delivered an album that is at once swaggering and vulnerable, merciless and sublime. It is far too early in the year for predictions, but I’m tentatively reserving slots 1 – 5 on my 10 Best of 2010 list for Feral Fire which makes for a firm placement on the 2010 Essential Listening list.

Glossary – Save Your Money for the Weekend (from Feral Fire)
Glossary – Bend With the Breeze (from Feral Fire)

Glossary’s Official Site, Glossary on myspace, Buy Feral Fire

THE STORY ABOUT THE IMAGE AT THE TOP OF THIS POST:

Hey everyone, Autopsy IV here to explain the image at the top of this post. No, that’s not the album cover for Feral Fire. You can see the actual album cover here. Through some twitter conversations this week I learned that Bingham Barnes (bass player) has a massive obsession/crush on Ke$ha spurring from the fact that she’s from Nashville and apparently has a thing for “short, round, bearded dudes”. Apparently, he made the image one night to be funny and I thought it’d be funny x2 to use it in this post. That said, Kelly wanted me to make it clear to everyone that the rest of the band neither shares nor appreciates this obsession.

Too bad, I bet a Glossaryfied version of Tik Tok with Kelly manning the mic would have been pretty sweet.

Imagine, if you will, driving through East Texas heading eastbound on I-10. You are almost in Louisiana and the car starts to sputter. It’s just after midnight and there isn’t another car or filling station at night and wouldn’t you know it your cell phone has no signal at all. You think to yourself “Can you hear me now…” and start wandering down the road looking for a signal, a pay phone, a gas station, another human being, or anything except what you are doing right at this moment. You come upon a side road and down that road you see light peeking around what looks like a bend in the road. You are not sure you want to make the trek down a road that could easily be described as wagon path, and besides that it’s starting to get pretty swampy, but in the end you set off down the side road hoping your boots don’t sink too far into the mud and that whatever is making that noise, that you would swear didn’t come from anything natural, doesn’t catch up with you. As you round a bend in the road you see what looks like a roadhouse. There are a couple of Harleys parked out front, a pickup-truck or three, a neon Pearl Beer sign flickering in the window, and a bug zapper lazily zapping whatever it can. And out of the open door, cutting through the humidity, the heat, and the mosquitoes there floats a dirty guitar groove and a voice full of gravel that gives clues in that it’s A. Enlightenment B. Endarkenment (Hint: There is no C).

This is an album full of down and dirty grooves and subtle backbeats and it is a classic Ray Wylie album from start to finish. While I can’t say the Godfather of Texas Country has grown, matured, or is expanding his musical styling I can say that all of that wouldn’t matter one single bit. On this one Ray reaches into his bag of tricks and comes up with a tried and true Ray Wylie’s sound. Pulling from Delta Blues to Texas Country to Bluegrass and piecing it together in a way most men his age couldn’t pull off. I mean how often does a man nearly sixty years old not sound bad singing about making a woman moan? I am here to tell you that Ray Wylie is one of those that can. I can’t think of anything he could sing about and sound wrong. The grooves on this thing definitely make it a candidate for having queued up to end an amorous evening with your lady friend if you know what I mean. It’s the sort of thing that’ll make you leave the windows open in summer’s most heat in coastal Texas just so you can get the sweat mixing in with everything else and need a good shower when you are done.

Of course you probably all think I am insane after that description and you may be right so you’ll just have to decide for yourself. Here’s three tracks to listen to while you slide somewhere to grab this one. Even if you disagree with my suggestions above this one is still a must have if for no other reason than Ray’s rendition of “Drunken Poet’s Dream” is just amazing.

Autopsy IV note: I’m not much of a Ray Wylie Hubbard fan and I flat out fell in love with this album. Essential Listening regardless of which side of the RWH fence you’ve found yourself on in the past.

Ray Wylie Hubbard – Pots and Pans
Ray Wylie Hubbard – Whoop and Hollar
Ray Wylie Hubbard – Every Day Is The Day Of The Dead

Linkage:
Ray Wylie Hubbard Official Website
Wikipedia on Ray Wylie Hubbard
Ray Wylie Hubbard at the Amazon MP3 Store

When I saw that the Black Diamond Heavies had a live album coming out I didn’t even bother to ask for it. When it appeared in my mailbox I wasn’t in any hurry to listen to it. I mean, I love the band on cd and I love the band’s live show even more. I just wasn’t confident that you could capture BDH in a live environment and have it sound good. My reasons were simple, a: they’re a really bass-heavy band, and to make capturing that even more difficult there’s b: they’re exceptionally loud live. With those doubts in mind, the cd sat on my kitchen counter for weeks before I decided to give it an obligatory listen.

With all that said, whomever recorded this show deserves a high-five, 2 shots and a hell yes.

In the end, I couldn’t have been more wrong about the overall sound of the cd. Alive As Fuck captures everything that is awesome about the Black Diamond Heavies. The grit, the grooves, the grime and the funk of a live BDH show are all present as well as well presented. The only things missing are John Wesley Myers’ ever-present cigarette and head banging and me, up front and center with my fifth whiskey.

This cd is not only a must-have for the current fan of the Black Diamond Heavies, but I also wouldn’t hesitate for a moment to offer this cd as an introduction for the BDH neophyte. It manages to capture everything that is The Black Diamond Heavies, which means it has to be Essential Listening….go get you some!

Black Diamond Heavies – Take A Ride
Black Diamond Heavies – Hambone
Black Diamond Heavies – Bidin’ My Time

Black Diamond Heavies on myspace, Buy Alive As Fuck

My first exposure to Grayson Capps came via his limited acoustic release, Songbones. When writing about that album I described it as “simple – subtle – magical” and I think that’s still a perfect descriptor for this storyteller from New Orleans.

Live At The Paradiso was recorded in May 2008 during an solo acoustic show at The Paradiso in Amsterdamn. Grayson is obviously in his element as he plays for over 2 hours telling stories of his life and explaining the inspirations to some of the songs. As much as I like Grayson when he’s playing with his full-band I feel like you hear the songs the way they’re meant to be heard when it’s just Grayson and his guitar. Simple – Subtle – Magical.

Interestingly enough, the show was originally recorded via 5 high-def cameras but the master footage mysteriously vanished after the shoot. Then, a few months later a single DVD of the show turned up at the Hyena Records Amsterdam offices. That DVD has now been released along with a companion audio download of the show.

I found the video quality on the DVD to be a little grainy and lacking but the audio is spot on and will make you forget about a little grain in no time and the audio download makes this DVD/CD release well worth your hard earned dollars as well as my first Essential Listening member of 2010.

Grayson Capps – Ike
Grayson Capps – Love Song For Bobby Long
Grayson Capps – Give It To Me
Grayson Capps – Guitar

Grayson Capps Official Site, Grayson Capps on myspace, Buy Live At The Paradiso