August Stuff

Whiskeytown - The heir apparent to Uncle Tupelo as the kings of the country side of alt country music. This CD is the reason I still buy every CD that Ryan Adams releases. I keep hoping he’ll re-discover the magic he had on this nearly perfect disc. Great writing, great playing and he’s as soulful a singer on this record as he’s ever been. This is what Gram parsons had in mind when he began writing rock songs that sounded like country songs. 4.5

Duke Spirit – I know that there was/is considerable hype surrounding this band, but, in this case anyway, the hype was deserved. Of course I like the rockers more than the slower songs and there are some missteps here, but she makes the missteps tolerable with good singing and in general, the songs are short enough that the mistakes quickly pass. And there are only a couple of those anyway. I bet they would be a fun live band. 4

The Hold Steady - Again, much hype surrounding this release as it got rave reviews from nearly everybody. And the reviews are right. Musically, it branches out without losing the hard edge their earlier material had and the themes have matured as well. Not that they are any more evocative than they have been in the past, he just seems to be singing about the difficulty of being a grown up rather than growing up. 4

Neil Diamond – Majestic and overblown, dramatic and clichéd all at the same time. And that’s just the prologue! Everything about this attempts to be bigger than life and to some degree it is, but I bet this was better to have been there rather than just listen to it. All the hits are here, but I’m not so sure they live up to the original studio recordings. Pleasant enough – I mean he had a lot of hits and they are great – but not the tour de force that I think they were going for. And it all falls apart at the end with the woeful Soolaimon and whatever that thing was after it. And what's with the cover? Who approved that? Still a 3 because 3/5 of it are classic all-time hits.

Slobberbone – They put the alt in alt country. Brent Best and crew are second only to alt country gods Uncle Tupelo in my Americana hierarchy. Billy Pritchard and Your Love is Waning are two of the most harrowing songs of all time and they also rock. Great songs, great guitar work, simply a great band. And nobody writes and sings about drinking better than these guys. Thankfully Brent Best still delivers with the Drams, his new band, but it will never be like this and that’s too bad.

Lyricists

Chris Collingwood/Adam Schlesinger - Equally adept at clever tales of modern living, offbeat looks at life and love and even the occasional wistful ballad. They have to be good if Robbie Fulks wrote a song called Fountains of Wayne Hotline in which he imagined a hotline bands could call for songwriting help.

Jeffrey Hyman, AKA Joey Ramone – The Hemingway of rock. Nobody said more by saying so little. And nobody (not even Dictator Andy Shernoff) ever wrote stuff funnier than this:

Sitting here in Queens
Eating refried beans
We’re in all the magazines
Gulping down thorazines
We ain’t got no friends
Our troubles never end
No Christmas cards to send
Daddy likes men.

Andy Shernoff – Nobody knows how to walk the line between reverence and satire like the Dictator’s Shernoff. Funny and knowing in an adult way without sounding too adult. Here's an example - the opening line of Master Race Rock from their first album

Hippies are squares with long hair
And they don’t wear no underwear.

In 1975, with the music business still essentially controlled by hippies, it was pretty astute to note that the hippie movement was over because they had simply become what they allegedly despised. Hippies (and the music industry) had indeed become squares. And to make matters worse (and to make the line funny) they didn’t wear underwear. Brilliant.

And who else in rock music would derisively reference the book Heather Has Two Mommies in a song about the present state of our culture?

Bob Dylan – Quite simply the most interesting rock Lyricist ever. And while I don’t always get his imagery, you can always tell what he means and where he’s going with it. In other words, you don’t need a weatherman to tell which way the wind blows.

Brent Best – You listened to the proof this month (Slobberbone) and if you didn’t get it, I’m sorry. He can be funny, witty, clever, evocative, harrowing and writes great songs about drinking.