Why the heck would Ronnie Fauss call his new album “Mulligan”? In golf, a mulligan means a do-over. It means you screwed up so bad people feel sorry for you. I don’t feel sorry for him and this ain’t no do-over.
Fauss’s first EP, New Songs for The Old Frontier, was damn good (see my review). But his new stuff is nothing like his old stuff was. It’s better. Rocks more. Rougher voice. I like that. Got a fiddle on some of it. I like that too.
I can’t get the first song, To Ease My Mind, out of my head. Very catchy tune. And It’s a Long Long Way is a funny talking blues song (think Todd Snider’s Talking Seattle Grunge Rock Blues) explaining the direction, or lack thereof, of a guy growing up in the post-Nixon era. I’m pretty sure that anyone who rhymes “riches” with “bitches” is headed in the right direction.
Wish had me fooled. I thought it was a sweet little love song but then I really listened to the lyrics. It’s more like a hate song. There’s a lot of bitterness packed in that one, with amusing lyrics to boot. And the mandolin and harmonica just make it that much better.
Continue reading »
We don’t get all that much mail, ‘cause we’re slackers and all, but The Philistines, Jr. band sent me a free listen to their new album “If A Band Plays in the Woods…” Hmm.
Maybe I was just in a mood this morning like I felt like I needed a nudge in a new direction. Maybe I just love innovation supported by well-written, thought-tickling lyrics and a we-are-all-in-the-same-boat-together attitude.
This is NOT my kind of music. At all. Is it? Sounds like some weird combination of electronica and a toy-store xylophone. It’s sure not raging southern guitar rock, folky Americana or banjos and mandolins. So, why did they send this to me? Did it leak that I’m a closet ABBA and Boy George fan? Did someone catch me listening to that danged White Stripes stuff? I don’t know.
Continue reading »
Ronnie Fauss is coming to Denver in August! He is slated to play Quixote’s True Blue on August 4.
His new CD, “Mulligan”, comes out around then so hopefully, we’ll be hearing some stuff from that. In the meantime, you can hear it here.
Very exciting news! Brent Best, frontman and songwriter for The Drams and Slobberbone, is working on a solo CD. And for those of us who like to give our money directly to the artist, here’s our chance. Mr. Best is going to be his own record company – just needs a little (very little) cash up front to get the operation up and running. You can read about it here.
But let me summarize. The suggestion is that people who are interested send him $10 now and by the end of the summer, he will send a limited edition, personalized record with his solo material on it.
Here’s what he says about the music: “A few of these songs you might have heard me perform live the last few years, some I’ve never played outside my house and some have never left their hard drive. They’ve marinated long enough, methinks. With that in mind, I’ve decided they should be recorded all proper-like, in a real studio.”
That’s just like two grande cappuccinos from you-know-where but the buzz you get will be so much better and last so much longer. Pretty sure he’ll deliver too. He’s never let me down. And I can’t wait.
The new Drive By Truckers’ album was released on March 16th and I was pretty excited about this one. It’s a full-blown PRODUCTION kind of album. How big is Big To-Do
? Well, that depends on whether you bought the vinyl
or the CD, see? ("Girls Who Smoke" was only released on the vinyl.) Wait, what? Why?
I’m a big Drive By Truckers fanatic and I can never wait for the next show or the next album. A live Trucker show is like a shot in the arm, and not in that bad way . . . The new CD is like reading a good book. Lots of story-songs on this one. Patterson tells smutty tales of some bad-ass characters and Cooley sings about hookers and being jobless. You know, everyday life stuff.
Continue reading »
