The Whiskey Charmers Lost On The Range Sweet Apple Pie
Detroit alt-country roots rockers The Whiskey Charmers bring us on a thoroughly enjoyable road trip across the gamut of americana on their third self-produced release. The core of the band is made up of Carrie Shepard (vocals and acoustic guitar) and her partner Lawrence Daversa (electric guitar and harmony vocals). Shepard, as well as being the possessor of a powerful rich voice, writes all the material. Daversa’s twangy and incisive electric guitar, at times rockabilly, at times classic country, plays like a second voice and punctuates her vocals to great effect. The third weapon in the band is drummer Brian Ferriby, whose powerhouse playing contributes effectively to the overall atmosphere, whether that be gothic country, blues or rockabilly. Bass duties fall to either David Roof or Wolf.
Galaxy finds us in outer space, exploring loneliness and solitude, while the very funny Super 8 is an advert for cheap motel living, with the immortal line ‘And if I wake up feelin’ awful, I might just make myself a waffle’. The cliched storyline of the outlaw running out on his woman is turned on its head in the outstanding Crossfire, where she eventually rides off into the sunset without him, to the sounds of a memorable searing guitar solo from Daversa. Shepard has her ‘boots on the dash’ in Tumbleweed and similarly doesn’t leave any doubt as to her intentions in Dirty Pictures.
This third album should expose The Whiskey Charmers to the wider audience that they deserve. Long may they ride the range.
Review by Eilís Boland
James Steinle Cold German Mornings Self Release
Although six of the songs were written in an eight-hour period one day in September of this year, COLD GERMAN MORNINGS is a body of work and concept album that Steinle has been living with since childhood. Steinle’s ancestors immigrated to Texas from Germany in the 19th Century and in the process of researching his heritage, his father travelled to Germany and tracked down some of his distant relatives. As a result, childhood holidays were spent with relatives in Germany and Steinle was also schooled there for eighteen months as a teenager. Fluent in the language, he was also drawn to the creative German Expressionism, which also inspired this album.
2020 has been a busy year for the Texan born singer songwriter and this is his third recording of the year. February saw the release of WHAT I CAME HERE FOR, produced by Bruce Robison and was followed in March by Steinle’s self-produced THE MAN FROM THE MOUNTAIN. The bones of twelve tracks on COLD GERMAN MORNINGS were recorded acoustically in sequence by Steinle at Signal Hill Recording in Austin, with background vocals added by singer songwriter Juliet McConkey.
Former Band of Heathens member Scott Davis, who had previously collaborated with Steinle, took these recordings and from his own home added the majority of the instrumentation on the album. Davis also engaged Band Of Heathens drummer Richie Millsap, who added percussion from his own home studio in Los Angeles and both Sam Kossler (pedal steel) and Jordan Kiener (clarinet) also contributed remotely.
Given its beginnings it comes as no surprise that the album is more experimental than Steinle’s previous work. It delves into episodes, events and players, both present and bygone from his ancestors’ homeland and from his home state of Texas.
The album opening track Die Erste, begins with echoed vocals and gently plucked acoustic guitar, erupting atmospherically mid song. The jaunty title track offers a slow rolling groove, with backing vocals and hand claps from Juliet McConkey.
Moving on both physically and metaphorically, the calming In Another Town dreams of a new beginning. The more upbeat drinking song Ein Schnapps, Ein Bier dances along with catchy T-Rex sounding rhythm before things go all jazzy on Zugspitze Boogie 16. Drunken Moon is a piano-led ballad that details the fading memories of a loved one lost at war. The standout track is The Lusitania. Beautifully adorned by strings, it features a survivor, telling the tale of the British Ocean liner which was sunk off the coast of Ireland in 1915 by a German U-boat, killing over one thousand passengers and crew. A somewhat melancholic mood prevails on Christmas At The Brothel, which touches on loss, regret and guilt.
Appropriately bookending the album is Steinle Jamboree, which recalls festivities and merrymaking in the mountains of southwestern Germany. Delivered in both German and English, it raises a glass to ancestors long since gone but not forgotten.
A true Texan troubadour COLD GERMAN MOUNTAINS is a body of work actualised by Steinle for personal reasons, rather than for any market. Each track is a jigsaw piece of his memories, both actual and imagined, as he interconnects times long since past with the present day. It marries the ancient and the modern, travels from Texas to Germany and back again, forging both contemporary and traditional country roots. It’s a wholly heartfelt album, well worth your attention and, most importantly, needs to be absorbed in one sitting.
Review by Declan Culliton
Kacy & Clayton and Marlon Williams Plastic Bouquet New West
Despite witnessing Marlon Williams join Kacy & Clayton on stage at The High Watt at AmericanaFest in Nashville last year, I really did not see this collaboration coming. Both have gifted us with memorable recordings in recent years. New Zealander Williams’ MAKE WAY FOR LOVE from 2018 and 2017’s THE SIREN’S SONG from the Saskatoon cousins Kacy Lee Anderson and Clayton Linthicum, particularly come to mind. When we spoke with Kacy a couple of years back, she described her ambitions as simply ‘’ to keep making an album every couple of years and touring to support it’’. Notwithstanding the lack of opportunities to perform live, they have maintained that dedication to recording, having released CARRYING ON in 2019.
The hook up with Marlon Williams was birthed via social media and built around a mutual admiration of each other's work. There has always been a charming innocence and simplicity to the music of Kacy & Clayton, as they recreate a sound that marries their devotion to both traditional American folk music and the late 60’s U.K. folk scene. Such was the impression made on Jeff Tweedy when they supported Wilco on tour that he invited them to The Loft Studios in Chicago, where he recorded and produced both THE SIRENS SONG and CARRYING ON. Marlon Williams strayed from the more traditional folk/country sound of his debut self-titled album with MAKE WAY FOR LOVE, veering more in the direction of classic singer songwriter.
The distanced contact between New Zealand and Canada resulted in songs being shared between the continents via email. It eventually culminated in the album being recorded at The Ghetto Box Studio in Saskatoon and Creative Workshop in Nashville. The production duties were shared by Kacy and Williams. The marriage of their vocals is both subtle and soothing, with Kacy’s youthful and beautifully pitched voice contrasting with the more mature baritone style of Williams.
The album does not deviate greatly from the template used on previous Kacy & Clayton recordings. However, it is enhanced by the vocal input by Williams and includes a Porter and Dolly style country duet on Old Fashioned Man, complete with obligatory pedal steel and violin. Although it’s Kacy’s vocals that dominate, Williams does take the lead on I Wonder Why and contributes a previously recorded song by him named Arahura. The latter takes its name from a river on the South Island in New Zealand, renowned for its greenstone content. The grizzly title track is derived from a roadside memorial, following a fatal car crash that took the lives of three young girls. Last Burning Ember further emphasises the quality of their shared vocals alongside some punchy guitar from Clayton and equally impressive is the Byrds sounding Your Mind’s Walking Out.
Notwithstanding her sweet vocal and youthful guise, you get the impression that Kacy is calling the shots and very much in control on the album. She is also blossoming as a songwriter, which is much in evidence throughout. Williams’ input and the customary excellent musicianship of Clayton add the finishing touches to what is a glittering listening experience by two maturing acts with endless potential.
A highly recommended album indeed.
Review by Declan Culliton
Malojian Humm Rollercoaster
Stevie Scullion (aka Malojian) has always had the knack of composing clever songs, loaded with melody, clever lyrics and his latest creation HUMM once again scores on all those fronts. He also cherry picks the personnel he works with, and behind his often self-effacing and shy exterior is a strong-willed artist committed to challenging himself to deliver music of the highest standard.
He sought out Steve Albini to produce his 2016 album THIS IS NOWHERE and carried out the production duties himself a year later on LET YOUR WEIRDNESS CARRY YOU HOME. On this occasion he has called on the services of Jason Lytle to co-produce, Lytle being an artist much loved by Stevie for many years.
Malojian performed at a standout double bill show with Jason Lytle at The Set in Kilkenny during The Roots festival in 2019. The afternoon’s event was in memory of Willie Meighan, who was a staunch supporter of Malojian, spreading the word far and wide and releasing his debut album on the Rollercoaster Record label. Willie had passed away the previous November and the gig was, understandably, quite an emotional experience with moving solo sets performed by both artists.
After the show Stevie revealed that the two of them would be working together on his next recording. The album was subsequently recorded both at a distance between Ireland and America, coupled with a week in the studio. Alongside Lytle, other notaries that contribute to the album are Gerry Love (Teenage Fanclub), Joey Waronker (REM) and Jon Thorne (Yorkson/Thorne/ Khan). A reflection of the capacity in these times to seamlessly create music with inputs from both sides of the Atlantic is evident in the album’s title. Foilhummerum Bay on Valentia Island, off the coast of Kerry, is the entry point where over two thousand meters of transatlantic cable was laid in 1912, and which terminates off Newfoundland Island in America.
The album is a package of songs loaded with trippy melodies that bring to mind the classic experimental pop of Syd Barrett led Pink Floyd and The Beatles in their LSD influenced period. Each song tumbles seamlessly into the next, from the dreamy opener And The Thief Came In - apparently inspired by a less than conscientious builder contractor - to the Bowie sounding closer Trampolining. The beautifully constructed Golden Age and Tsundoku(the art of buying books and never reading them) are immersed in synthesizers, tipping their hats in the direction of The Electric Light Orchestra.
The gentle Burns offers comfort and reassurance, as if direct to a child from a loving parent. The equally hushed Someone K New also reveals the composer’s wherewithal to shift between musical modes.
The marriage of Malojian and Lytle works spectacularly well on HUMM. It’s also further evidence of an artist growing in confidence and maturity with each subsequent album.
Review by Declan Culliton
Sunny Sweeny Live At The Machine Shop Studio Self Release
Playing this sixty-minute album had me head scratching and wondering how East Texan Sunny Sweeney isn’t a household name. Over the past fifteen years and prior to this recording, she has released four standout albums and over a dozen singles. Bob Seger invited her to open for him on his farewell stadium based tour and if there’s any justice that mass exposure should help to bring her music into the lives of a lot more punters.
Sweeney boasts a striking vocal ability that works every bit as well belting out raucous outlaw country or traditional cry in your beer ballads. She’s both sassy and classy and this album features her in both modes across the seventeen tracks and three intros on offer. The icing on the cake is the full-blooded band that adds ripping guitar, fiddle and pedal steel in all the right places.
Brimming with positive energy, Sweeney’s dips into her back catalogue and also serves up some well selected covers. Top of the pile is a steaming version of the Don Williams classic Tulsa Time. She also breathes new life into Stevie Nicks’ After The Glitter Fades. Tim Carroll’s If I Could, which featured on Sweeney’s debut album HEARTBREAKER’S HALL OF FAME, also features. Her own spiced up country songs Bad Girl Phase (a co-write with Brandy Clark), Tie Me Up and Body In a Boxcar never sounded better and she also includes the truly touching ballads Grow Old With Me and Pass The Pain.
Fortunately, and unlike many of her peers, Sweeney has never attempted to reinvent herself and has stuck to the template that works so well for her. She’s currently working on her next studio album due for release in 2021. In the meantime, this splendid recording should be on the radar of any lover of outlaw country music.
Review by Declan Culliton
Will Johnson El Capitan Self Release
Yet another fine example of the quality recordings that this artist has been creating since his debut solo release in 2002. Johnson enlisted musical buddy, Britton Beisenherz, to assist with the production on these twelve songs and the album was recorded at Ramble Creek studio in Austin, Texas. Beisenherz also played organ, Casio SK-1 keyboard, piano and samples. He was joined by Thor Harris on vibraphone and bass clarinet, plus Lindsey Verrill on cello and vocals.
Will Johnson plays acoustic guitar and his gentle, whispered vocals resonate throughout these songs with a sense of lonely contemplation, existing in their own space and time. Johnson is not a well-known artist in the general music media but has always worked prolifically and quietly in his understated way of creating intimate and sparse music. Over the years, he has been associated with a number of other acts, such as Centro-Matic, South San Gabriel and the Undertow Orchestra, together with many collaborations, including Jason Molina, Monsters of Folk, New Multitudes and Overseas.
This new solo album was recorded over recent months and includes both old and new songs that reflect Johnson’s state of mind during the pandemic. Starting with a short instrumental, Teruel, (a high-altitude town in the mountainous Aragon region of eastern Spain), the simple guitar melody sets the tone for the rest of the album with an intimate sense of contemplation, reflection and musical range. Los Cuervos follows and a song that references deceit in a relationship and love gone wrong, all wrapped in the gentle sounds of acoustic guitar and keyboard.
Ocean Sea follows this theme, with minimal instrument sounds and feelings of being lonely in a strained relationship, closing with a plea to return home. Bloody Boxer looks at insecurities and feelings of anxiety with a fragile, hushed air to sooth any sleepless, tired feelings.
The title track references El Cap, a rock formation in Yosemite National Park and the permanence of nature against our human foibles and whims. It echoes the recent November elections in America and the price to be paid for all that divides people from their dignity. Bricks To Block the Raid tackles the fires of change, fears for the consequences to our actions and our blindness.
Dear To the Assassin references separation, leaving and unresolved feelings, “And it took a while to know you, And even still it sometimes moves, To something not quite settled, To something less than true.”
Trouble is about an old friend, out living her life and it also references today’s need for endless distraction “So I wake up in this parking lot and raise up all these blinds, To a World that just ain’t talking much at all, Just consumed by anything that has a password or a screen and the place has lost its sympathetic core.”
Goodbye Absecon (a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey) sings of a midweek gig, pre-lockdown, being on the road and thinking of home while Inclined is a track about living in uncertain times and wanting to shut out the noise.
I Am Back At the Window Again is about acceptance and living a simple life, the quiet calm in nature, memory and time passing. Final track, St. Anthony’s is another instrumental - a gentle, reflective acoustic piece and an appropriate ending to this journey that bears insight into the deep well of Johnson’s artistry. There is a sweet melancholy running through these songs, never the sound of depression, but rather a case of a knowing subtlety in all its reflective reverie. One to treasure.
Review by Paul McGee
The Mountain Goats Getting Into Knives Merge
It’s fair to say that the Mountain Goats have treaded a steady, if at times, meandering path since their formation back in 1991. Original founding member, John Darnielle, is still at the helm and has endured over the years, always retaining a singular vision for the sound that he wanted to create across some 19 album releases to date.
It was 1994 before the debut album surfaced but that hides the fact that Darnielle employed a lo-fi approach to recording and had created many cassette-only releases in the years leading up to their ‘official’ full length debut. Over time, past band-members (approx. 20 in total) have occasionally circled back around to collaborate with Darnielle on various offerings and his influence among music contemporaries cannot be overstated. The band employed an Inde/Folk-Rock sound that often veered into other areas as Darnielle used his fertile imagination to experiment with different ideas and topics, such as professional wrestlers, Goth music devotees, media game players and much more.
For this release, he has returned to producer Matt Ross-Spang, who worked on the last album, In League With Dragons (2019). This latest project runs just short of an hour in listening time and includes core band members, Peter Hughes (bass, backing vocals), Jon Wurster (drums) and Matt Douglas (flute, saxophone, clarinet, guitar, keyboard, backing vocals).
The 13 tracks are a mixed bag of sounds with the poppy opener, Corsican Mastiff Stride, setting the pace with a nice drum shuffle and upbeat arrangement. Get Famous follows with a bright commercial sound augmented by horns and an almost Bowie feel to the delivery;” You were born for these flashing lights; You were born for these endless nights.”
Picture Of My Dress is an image that paints a truck stop scene and a salutary warning, while the intriguingly titled As Many Candles As Possible has a heavy beat, led by full-on keyboard, guitar and rhythm attack. Tidal Wave slows everything down, takes a breath and rests on a very attractive melody.
The Last Place I Saw You Alive has a poignant vocal delivery and a slow, late night jazz feel to the arrangement, “It’s only now and then you come to mind, There’s a trillion things you left behind.”
Both The Great Gold Sheep and Rat Queen deal with aspects of success and revelling in the notoriety that it brings. The band play very creatively and bring the arrangements to life with a strong interplay and tight-yet-loose dynamic. A number of the songs are somewhat obscure in the lyrical meaning but what cannot be open to interpretation is the superb playing and musicianship of the band, plus invited guests.
Other players on the album are Bram Gielen (piano, guitars, keyboards), Chris Boerner (guitars), Charles Hodges (Hammond B-3), Sam Shoup (Mellotron), Tom Clary(horns), Reba Russell and Susan Marshall (backing vocals). The music was recorded in Memphis at the Sam Phillips Recording studios.
Final song, the title of the album, sums up the unique personal search of John Darnielle, the artist, “I hit the cul-de-sac on the spiritual path, Retraced my steps back home.” There is one thing for sure, listening to a Mountain Goats record does leave you somewhat changed and richer for the journey. Having walked in the world of this creative songsmith you want to return and pick apples in the orchard again.
Review by Paul McGee
The Furious Seasons La Fonda Stone Garden
This is a very engaging album and one that comes highly recommended. The Furious Seasons is a trio of musicians that have been playing together for many years now and their understanding of harmony and melody is so finely crafted that the ten tracks included here play out on a very enjoyable wave of creative interplay.
David Steinhart is the main source of these songs and he is also a virtuoso guitar player, along with his musical compadre, Paul Nelson, who compliments him so beautifully on guitar, dobro and Weissenborn. They are joined by Jeff Steinhart on upright bass and keyboards - his playing is so superbly understated in support of both guitarists.
A number of additional musicians appear on various tracks to help colour the sound with Aubrey Richmond on violin, Edoardo Tancredi on drums and percussion, Arlan Oscar on accordion contributing superbly. The album was produced, recorded, mixed and mastered by Alfonso Rodenas in Malibu Canyon, CA.
This is the third album that the Furious Seasons has recorded as a trio and the understanding they have developed is the key element in their expressive playing. The additional players bring a more nuanced range to the sound but it is the intricate guitar playing of Steinhart and Nelson that gives flight to everything. Anchored by the bass and keyboard fills of older brother Jeff Steinhart, the overall impression is that of intimate evenings spent by the embers of a glowing fire.
Sadly, the songs represent a cycle that tell the story of a close friend who died from alcoholism and also touch on the related emotions and feelings in trying to help him off his path of self-destruction. So many problems with so few answers unless the person wants to help themselves in the first place.
From leaving his relationship for a life on the road (As a Matter Of Fact), to creating a new life in Arizona (Burn Clean), the inevitable ghosts remain and Steinhart questions what else he could have done to influence the outcomes (Figure It Out).
From early friendship, through these issues of panic and tears, to the eventual death, we are not given the name of the individual involved – not that we need such detail. These personal songs and memories are a type of therapy for Steinhart to work out and the imagined funeral (Your Irish Funeral) is in celebration of a life lived on the edge.
The harmony vocals and intricate musicianship is completely at odds with this subject matter, not that it lies heavily on these arrangements, or takes away from the lovely melodies. The reflection of younger days is captured on I Was An Actor, Statistically Speaking and Slide Into Sadness, where the honesty in actions and deeds of his friend was something that carried lessons for Steinhart.
Gentle acoustic Folk music to bring a quiet calm and a vocal delivery full of heartfelt emotion.
Review by Paul McGee
Jim Stanard Colour Outside the Lines Manatee
A second album from this Florida/Colorado-based musician that follows on from debut, Bucket List. The album was recorded in Nashville and was produced, engineered and mixed by Kip Winger, who also played bass on the eleven tracks.
Stanard plays acoustic guitar and sings lead vocals on all tracks, with Jon Skibic on electric guitars, Danny Parks on acoustic guitar and dobro, Mike Rojas on keyboards, Wanda Vick on dobro, fiddle, mandolin and dobro, Scott Trammell on drums, Jeff Taylor on accordion and Russell Terrell on background vocals.
There are guest vocals from folk legend Peter Yarrow (Peter, Paul and Mary) and daughter, Bethany Stanard, who appear on the songs, Home and Arkansas. The latter is a song that references the Elaine massacre in 1919 at Phillips County where the authorities killed many black men who were protesting about their sharecropper status in the state.
Fake News is a tongue-in-cheek song about falling for a channel three newsgirl and When My Truck is another song that tells of a relationship challenge ‘When the truck learns how to drive, It’ll probably leave me too, To follow after you.’
There is plenty to enjoy with a nice balance to these self-penned songs, easy guitar sounds and clever lyrics with Same River, Each Other’s Minds and Soft and Gentle Smile standing out. The first two songs revolve around the theme of failed relationships with reflections on the reasons why communication disappears; ‘Though some memories never die, We can’t go back to change our lives, Can’t step in the same river twice.’ And ‘He’s nervous and angry, She’s hurt and she cries, It’s one of love’s most common crimes, They think they can read each other’s minds.’
That final song sums it all up with the words, ‘Your soft and gentle smile, Said that I should stay awhile.’ True love indeed, can endure!
Review by Paul McGee