Sick and tired of hearing folks bleat “I can’t stand Country and Western music”?
Sick and tired of hearing yourself say it?
The antidote could be found in hundreds of contemporary albums - you don’t have to restrict yourself to ‘Lucille’ and Roy Rogers comics.
KING STRAGGLER is an LA-based outfit made up of well-seasoned musicians and actors, who have come together to make a debut that is steeped in country music. Their odd take on it is as refreshing as it is uncompromising, taking nothing away from the straight-up hoe-down.
The result is a beautiful and simplistic collection of songs, skits and laments, occasionally tongue-in cheek, but mostly just a joy to hear. This is the unmistakable sound of country music at it’s finest.
Opener ‘Good Man’ is a classic, all shuffling beats and gentle harmonies. An acoustic arpeggio, and a simple moral message all wrapped up in good intentions:
“If I could, I’d say these words / I am a good man”
The lap steel is a beautifully understated cop car siren noise, and the three part vocals drag the song to pieces brilliantly. This is followed by ‘Wasted Love’ - again, superb. Half asleep rhythms and finger-picked melodies that sound so simple, with a delicate harmonica in effect to gently hit you, as you think of the woman in your life, who is no good for you. The lead vocalist is fighting a losing battle to convince himself, and the tempo is accordingly reflective.
‘Annalee’ has a sumptuous melody grow out of nothing, and a particularly strong narrative that tells a tale that you can see clearly in your mind’s eye, maybe from memory.
|
With sincerity, comes insincerity.
The skits are hilarious: ‘Drunk Again Waltz’ is 27 self-explanatory seconds of whining, echoing lap steel and hurdy-gurdy sounds. ‘Hey, It’s Me’, 21 seconds of garbled female apology through the answering machine. It’s a convention of hip-hop, something that rappers do, and that’s half the fun.
‘Rebel’ is a monologue that probes the true meaning of that word before drawing its own inverted conclusions, and ‘Soul To Waste’ is a low down jam that aims for the stars, clapping, thigh slapping and caught up in it’s own possessed, half-psychotic trance. Yee-hawww!
Accessible, yet demented and full of dark humour, it sounds like country, but not quite as you know it. Well worth a listen, this could throw you wide open to the whole shooting match, and have you dreaming of Nashville. Even if it doesn’t quite have that effect, it’s a very hard record to dislike. Give it a spin. Feel free to disagree. Your comments are welcome!
www.kingstraggler.com
www.myspace.com/kingstraggler
|
