Album Reviews
DANNY BARNES & THEE OLD CODGERS
Things I Done Wrong
(Terminus)
Songwriter/banjoist/guitarist Danny Barnes has for the last couple of years explored music unlike the countrified bluegrass with which he made his name in the Bad Livers. The last Livers album had more in common with hip hop than bluegrass, and his last couple of albums, solo and with Pete Krebs, delved into lo-fi eccentricity. He's also played sideman to Seattle jazz genius Bill Frisell. So it's somewhat surprising to hear Barnes go back to bluegrass with his latest album Things I Done Wrong. He engages Northwest avant-fusion keyboardist Wayne Horvitz to produce, Frisell adds his atmospheric guitar licks to a couple of tracks, a drummer guests here and there and his latest sidemen have plenty of experience all over the musical map, but the heart of the record is the old Livers sonic lineup of banjo, fiddle and bass. There's plenty of firepower on these tracks, but technique is never substituted for musicality. Ultimately what makes a Barnes album special, though, is songs. Despite his instrumental virtuosity and personable Texas drawl, Barnes' greatest talent is in writing catchy, timeless songs that balance love-is-good positivity with wry good humor, like all the best country and bluegrass writers. Tunes like "All Alone For Christmas," "Delilah," "Love Your Neighbor" and the title tracks could've been written any time in the past 75 years and would still sound contemporary. His claims to the contrary, Danny Barnes doesn't do a damn thing wrong on Things I Done Wrong. Michael Toland
For fans of: the Bad Livers, Robbie Fulks, Killbilly
JACK BREAKFAST
Rock and Roll Album
(Troubled Cat)
Unlike a lot of one-man-pop-bands, Toronto's Jack Breakfast isn't particularly interested in trying to be Todd Rundgren or the Beatles. Not that there's anything wrong with the super craftsman/auteur approach, but it's nice to hear a multi-instrumentalist singer/songwriter going his own idiosyncratic way. Breakfast, whose main instruments are drums and what seems to be a barely-in-tune upright piano, favors loose, playful arrangements (some might call them sloppy) and melodies that don't quite resolve the way one might think they should. The percussion carries the tunes while Breakfast warbles his lovelorn lyrics in an artless, occasionally off-key voice. There's a complete lack of pretension to Breakfast's songs—this is some of the most raw, unvarnished, nakedly honest tuneage you'll hear. It's akin to listening to your buddy's garage band run through a rehearsal with guests present—a bit tentative, full of uncertainty, but also proud of their accomplishment. It's an acquired taste, but not an unpleasant one. Michael Toland
For fans of: Victoria Williams, Pavement, Vic Chesnutt
THE MORELLS
The Morells
(Slewfoot/Delmore)
Nearly 20 years after their debut album, the mini-masterpiece Shake and Push, Springfield, MO's Morells return. For the past decade and a half or so, guitarist D. Clinton Thompson, bassist Lou Whitney and keyboardist Joe Terry have been better known as their other identity the Skeletons. The main difference between the Skels and the Morells has never been all that clear—both versions of the band play stripped-down roots pop that's heavily inspired by 50s and 60s AM radio, yet still somehow sounds contemporary. The main difference, besides different drummers, seems to be that the Skeletons concentrate on original material, while the Morells do mostly covers. That's not much of an issue, however, since the covers the band picks are usually so obscure they might as well be new. To wit: Whitney continues his relationship with little-known songwriter Ronnie Self with great versions of two sardonic country rock gems, "Hair of the Dog" and "Home in My Hand," while Thompson airs out his rockabilly roots with "Gimme, Gimme, Gimme," "Hot Rod Baby" and "Last Nite I Spent My Money." Thompson also calls attention to his underrated guitar prowess with a straightforward rendition of Roy Buchanan's "Roy's Blues." The best-known song here is probably Leiber/Stoller's R&B goof "I'm a Hog For You Baby," executed here with a restraint other performers usually don't bother attempting. There are only two originals, Terry's slight but charming "Mama's Got a Headache" and Whitney's hilarious "Don't Let Your Baby Buy a Car," and they sound of a piece with the covers. The members of the Morells know how to make fun party music without being either stupid or self-conscious about it. The Morells is better than a 12-pack of Pepsi. Michael Toland
For fans of: Rockpile, NRBQ, Deke Dickerson
TRACY NELSON
Ebony & Irony
(Relentless/Eclectic)
You wanna talk blue-eyed soul mamas, you gotta talk Tracy Nelson. With a respected career stretching back to the psychedelic 60s and an eclectic taste that make no stylistic distinctions betwixt blues, country and R&B, Nelson pioneered a sound that Bonnie Raitt (a fan) took to the bank. So why hasn't Nelson achieved the success of her disciples? Nelson herself claims that she's never made the record she truly wanted to make, a situation Ebony & Irony is intended to rectify. Nelson sticks mostly to a bluesy style of jumpin' roots rock and soulful balladry here, but anything this voice utters sounds drenched in the blues, so it's less a matter of style than sensibility. She covers Mose Allison's darkly beautiful "How Much Truth," digging into the heart of the song in the same way Frank Sinatra used to excavate his ballads, and she turns in a gorgeously sung version of "Even Now," one of the late soul singer Johnny Adams' last masterpieces. (She can't touch Adams, but no one can, so 'tain't no big thang.) Special mention should also be made of her two originals, "Got a New Truck," a rollicking collaboration with soul sister Marcia Ball, and "I Must Be Crazy," a good-natured rumination on why a 55-year-old keeps pluggin' away in a soulsucking business like the music industry. Fortunately for both us AND the biz, she remains demented. Michael Toland
For fans of: Bonnie Raitt, Marcia Ball, Ruth Brown
JONNY POLONSKY
There is Something Wrong With You
(Eggbert)
After a five-year absence from the shelves (due to the usual record company problems), Chicago pop prodigy Jonny Polonsky returns with the six-song There is Something Wrong With You. There's nothing at all fancy about the songs on this EP—they're all pretty much meat-and-potatoes power pop, with gritty guitars, super-catchy melodies and Polonsky's appealingly rough-edged voice. He doesn't need anything elaborate to get his message across; he's such a good writer than his tunes don't need augmentation. From the pretty "You Are My Star" to the glam-inflected "Roll On" and the sharply hooked "Gone Too Far," Polonsky simply lets the ditties speak for themselves. The only real enhancement is a palpable sense of enjoyment on the part of the author—this is one performer who enjoys his work. There may be something wrong with you, but there's nothing wrong with Jonny Polonsky. Michael Toland
For fans of: Adam Schmitt, Fountains of Wayne, the Cavedogs
