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Truth & Salvage Company: Truth & Salvage Company

May 25, 2010 /


RIYL: Black Crowes, Georgia Satellites, Lynyrd Skynyrd

“Hail, hail, the gang’s all here / With our heads full of reefer and our bellies full of beer,” begins Truth & Salvage Company’s excellent debut album, but this six-piece outfit has more on its mind than the munchies; in fact, this sinewy 12-track collection wastes no time in getting down to the business of delivering a dirty boot to your rock-starved ass, and keeps it there for a solid 46 minutes and 12 seconds. Laced with Wurlitzer and Hammond organ, shot through with loud guitars and punchy drums, and recorded by guys with tons of hair and names like Walker and Smitty, Truth & Salvage Company proves you can still make a damn fine record with nothing more than a few chords and a healthy stack of amps.

As a songwriting unit, the band doesn’t really offer anything you haven’t already heard from the Loud ‘N Shaggy section of your record collection – it’s clear they’re no strangers to the Allmans/Skynyrd/Faces axis – but their rock swagger feels more like a real attitude, not a pose, and even if there are already a million songs about hard-livin’ dudes on the road and the slutty-yet-totally-respectable babes who love them, these guys cover the territory so well (and with so many plaintive, drawl-tinged harmonies) that it’s hard to question their logic. Why did bands stop making records like this, anyway? Can these guys maybe do something about all that Godsmack and Drowning Pool on the radio?

Anyone who loves rock & roll knows the road is littered with the corpses of bands with tattoo-ready logos and song titles like “Pure Mountain Angel,” and with a debut as hard to top as Truth & Salvage Company, odds are high that these guys will join that list sooner than later. In the meantime, though, this sure is fun to crank at full volume. (Megaforce 2010)

Truth & Salvage Company MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Rock

Merle Haggard: I Am What I Am

May 24, 2010 /


RIYL: Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Dave Alvin

Country-rock legend Merle Haggard has stepped up at age 73 to deliver a late-career classic that should satisfy any die-hard fan. The album showcases Haggard’s longtime band, the Strangers, for an easy-going collection of tunes that sound like they could be from a bygone era but with the crisp musicianship of a modern outfit. Haggard looks both back and forward, covering an array of topics from romance to social commentary. The album oozes classic country vibes with pedal steel, fiddle and honky-tonk riffing in service of Haggard’s still vital muse. Haggard sounds like he was having a great time during the recording process and that energy infuses the album.

Opening track “I’ve Seen It Go Away” has an upbeat, reflective vibe that recalls his classic tune “Mama Tried,” (which became a staple for the Grateful Dead). But the lyrics also lament the political state of affairs – “I’ve watched it all fall apart, and I’ve seen our greatest leaders break their people’s heart.” “Pretty When it’s New” examines the feeling of new love and features melodic guitar riffs and piano plunking in a poignant ballad. “Oil Tanker Train” takes a nostalgic look back at Haggard’s youth when his dad worked for the local railroad.

One of the premiere tracks is “Live and Love Always,” an up-tempo duet with Haggard’s wife Theresa on a hoedown type of tune that recalls the classic collaborations between Johnny Cash and June Carter. The song features recurring fiddle riffs for an uplifting vibe that will surely get any roadhouse jumping. “The Road to My Heart” has a jazzy swing, featuring some Louis Armstrong-style trumpet, as well as great solos from the piano and guitar. “I’m a Stranger in the City” is a short but sweet number that benefits from some great pedal steel.

Another highlight at the end of the album is “Mexican Bands,” a gringo ode to tacos, mariachis and Mexican music in general. The sound recalls “El Paso,” the Marty Robbins song that became another Grateful Dead staple, but with the addition of a horn section for extra festive flavor. The confessional title track closes the album, with Haggard grateful to no longer be a fugitive on the lam and unapologetically claiming to be “a nephew to today’s Uncle Sam… a seeker, a sinner, I’ll be what I am.” (Vanguard 2010)

Americana, CD Reviews, Country

The National: High Violet

May 24, 2010 /


RIYL: Arcade Fire, Interpol, The Walkmen

Somehow I was one of the few music writers not to swoon for The National’s 2007 critical darling The Boxer. I found it a little boring and hard to get into.

So why, a couple of years later, have I responded so positively to High Violet? It’s not like they’re doing anything radically different. Sweeping and anthemic but still low-key indie rock is this band’s calling card, and has been pretty much since its self-titled debut album came out in 2001.

One element of my turnaround can be credited to seeing the band live last summer during the Virgin FreeFest, or whatever they’re calling it now, at Merriweather Post Pavilion in the Maryland suburbs.

They were sandwiched between Public Enemy and Girl Talk on the second stage, and to be honest I stuck around only because I didn’t feel like fighting the pre-Weezer crowd at the bigger stage up the hill.

Frontman Matt Berninger won a laugh by quipping, “We’re The National, and we’re actually a lot like Public Enemy,” or something similar. They then proceeded to make a believer out of everyone in hearing distance, putting on one of those gripping and uplifting shows that sneaks up on you and makes you reconsider everything you’ve heard from this band before.

Like the show, High Violet is a slow but hard charger. The album takes a while to get going, and being front-loaded with titles such as “Terrible Love,” “Sorrow,” “Little Faith” and “Afraid of Everyone” gives the listener a pretty good sense of the vibe.

And a vibe is pretty much the only guidepost you get lyric-wise. I may be missing something, but lines like “you and your sister live in a lemon world” and “I was carried to Ohio on a swarm of bees” don’t jump out as super-meaningful.

But by the time “Bloodbuzz Ohio” rolled around six tracks in, I began to realize I was entranced, and the excellent “Conversation 16” and “England” kept me listening right until the end. And I’ve kept listening since, again and again. (4AD 2010)

The National MySpace page

Artists, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Rock

Quintessential Songs of the ’00s: #5 “Use Somebody”

May 21, 2010 /

Truth be told, there are about 45 other Kings of Leon songs that I’d like to plug in here — I’ve been a huge fan since Youth and Young Manhood in 2003 — but there’s no doubt that “Use Somebody” is KoL’s signature tune. It hit #4 on the Billboard Hot 100, won three Grammys and is by far the band’s biggest hit.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great track. It has the kind of soaring, arena-filling chorus that the Followills weren’t even trying to write until about four years ago.

It always puzzled me why the band didn’t hit it big earlier in their career, especially with the way the UK adores them. But hey, better late than never.

From the song’s wiki page:

On U.S. radio, the song was a multi-format smash, becoming just the fourth song in history to top the Mainstream Top 40, Adult Top 40, Alternative Songs, and Triple A charts.[9] The three prior being “Slide” by the Goo Goo Dolls, “Every Morning” by Sugar Ray, and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” by Green Day.

From SongFacts:

Caleb told Uncut magazine October 2008 the story of the song: “The meat of song was written on tour. When I came up with ‘I could use somebody,’ I didn’t know if I was talking about a person or home or God. I felt immediately that it was a big song, and it scared me away. Then, when we were writing the record, Matthew kept sayin’, ‘What’s that song, man?’, and I acted like I didn’t know what he was talking about. Then, finally, I went, ‘All right, we’ll do it,’ and as soon as we started playin’ it, the producers looked up and said, ‘Whoa, that’s a good song.’ I was like, ‘OK.'”

More Quintessential Songs of the ’00s.

Best of 2000s, External Music, Songs

Quintessential Songs of the ’00s: #4 “Are You Gonna Be My Girl?”

May 20, 2010 /

With arguably the most memorable opening bass line of the decade, Jet burst onto the scene in 2003 (with a little boost from Apple, who used it in its first iPod commercial) by asking, “Are You Gonna Be My Girl?”

Of course, they were accused of ripping off another song (Iggy Pop’s “Lust for Life”) though lead singer Chris Chester recounts a meeting he had with Iggy Pop:

“It’s funny because I asked him point blank about that. He said I was crazy. He said that when he and David Bowie were writing “Lust for Life”, they were ripping off Motown’s beat. It’s funny that he said that to me because we also thought we were ripping off Motown more than “Lust for Life”. To be honest with you that kind of annoyed me a lot, because I always thought it was really lazy. People just go well Lust for Life is more well-known so that’s what they go for, but if you listen to a song like “You Can’t Hurry Love” (The Supremes) I think you’ll find its closer to “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” than “Lust for Life” ever was. And that’s what Iggy said as well.”

Criticism aside, no one can argue that this track isn’t wickedly catchy.

More Quintessential Songs of the ’00s.

Best of 2000s, External Music, Songs, Videos

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