Try-It Tuesday (8-2-22): The Country by Tennessee Jet

 

Note: On Tuesdays I will be reviewing albums that are new or at least new to me.

Album Released: 2020

About Tennessee Jet: It’s the stage name for singer/songwriter TJ McFarland – note he was raised in Oklahoma.

Members: Just McFarland, although Dwight Yoakam’s touring band play a prominent role on this album.

What I Know: Nothing. Never heard of this fellow, but it came up on Spotify and thought I’d give it a go.

Did You Know? Tennessee Jet’s parents were rodeo performers. …His musical idols are The White Stripes and Kurt Cobain. … This is his third album.

Why this album: See What I Know.

My thoughts on The Country: This has the feel of an alternative country album in the vein of Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt, as it blends old-time country, folk, and rock ‘n roll. It was his goal to showcase the range of country on this album. I hear a little of Steve Earle in his voice.

• The opening tune “Stray Dogs” is a borderline rocker with a nice hook. It’s the most listened to original tune on the album.
• The second tune, “The Raven & the Dove,” has some classic steel guitar and some solid harmonica.
• “Johnny” is the third track, and it is a tribute to Johnny Horton. It features some heavy rock-influenced guitar and drumlines.
• The first of two covers is fourth with Townes Van Zandt’s “Pancho & Lefty.” He gets help on this one from Cody Jinks, Paul Cauthen and Elizabeth Cook, and some nice horns. Just a great song, and a nice take on it.
• “Off to War” is a slower, statement song, followed by a honky-tonk type of tune in “Hands on You.” He then swings into a ballad for a country dance in “Someone to You.”
• The title track delivers the message of the album with the line: “I miss you like the country, radio don’t play anymore.” This is an ode to what should be on country radio rather than the pop drivel country that pollutes the airwaves. This tune is a straightforward acoustic song with vocals, and it’s well done.
• The second cover is the ninth of ten songs in the Black Crowes’ “She Talks to Angels,” and he gives it a bluegrass sound. It’s an interesting take, with banjo, violin, and solid backing female vocals.

The Wrap: I like the experiment of purposefully taking a tour of the various sounds of country music. If you like off-the-beaten path country, this is one for you to check out. If you want songs about drinking and summer and girls in jean shorts, it’s probably not for you.

You’re Up: Let me know your thoughts on this album, or anything new to you that you are listening to this week.

Try-It Tuesday (7-26-22): Misadventures of Doomscroller by Dawes

 

Note: On Tuesdays I will be reviewing albums that are new or at least new to me.

Album Released: 2022

About Dawes: Formed in 2009 from the remnants of the post-punk band Simon Dawes after co-songwriter Blake Mills left the band. From then on, they have been a folk-rock band.

Members: Taylor Goldsmith (lead vocals, guitar), Griffin Goldsmith (drums), Wylie Gelber (bass) and Lee Pardini (Keyboards)

What I Know: I first got into Dawes when I stumbled upon the song, “A Little Bit of Everything” in early 2010s. I’ve grown found of several other songs including: All Your Favorite Bands, When My Time Comes, and Things Happen. They were also the opening act at the Outlaw Festival (headlined by Willie Nelson) that Jodi and I attended in 2019. They put together an entertaining, tight 30-minute set that day.

Did You Know?: “Doomscrolling” is the action of continually scrolling through and reading depressing or worrying content on a social media or news site, especially on a phone… Taylor Goldsmith is married to actor/singer Mandy Moore.

Why this album: Well, I do know Dawes, but I figured what are the odds that I could start this weekly feature with two albums with opening songs that reference doomscrolling. Not only that, but long opening songs that reference doomscrolling. If you missed, last week I reviewed Metric’s “Formentera” album with an opening song entitled “Doomscroller” that was 10-minutes, 28 seconds long. This week’s opening song “Someone Else’s Café/Doomscroller tries to Relax” clocks in at 9:26.

My thoughts on Misadventures of Doomscroller: This a seven-song album with six of those songs going over the 5:30 mark, and it is bookended by songs over nine minutes long.

• The percussion and guitars are highlights for me in the nine-minute opening track which seems to be a commentary on poisonous nature of social media.
• The lyrics in the second discuss how oceans, electricity, spirituality, and the future all come in waves, hence the chorus and song title “Comes in Waves.” I like the thought and writing; the instrumentation is solid.
• The third tune “Everything is Permanent” clocks in at 8:43 and delves into the permanency of modern life and technology. The song ends with the repeated lines of “Did you really need to cry or be seen crying.” It’s a thoughtful line about how so much of our behavior is performance in the age of constant sharing.
•  The next two songs “Ghost in the Machine” and “Joke in There Somewhere” continue the theme of modern pressures.
• The sixth song is an instrumental entitled “Joke In There Somewhere – Outro.” At 1:37, it feels unnecessary.
• The album ends with the nine-minute “Sound That No One Made/Doomscroller Sunrise” and tries to tie together the entire concept of the album about the decaying of bodies, spirit, and life.

The Wrap: I’m not sure people turn to Dawes for long songs and instrumentation. There are certainly highlights and it’s worth a listen. I wish the vocal tones were a little more varied, as Goldsmith seems smitten with a higher tone than in some of their earlier releases. I guess I am a sucker for a single or two, and that’s what is missing on this album for me.

You’re Up: Let me know your thoughts on this album, or anything new to you that you are listening to this week.

Try-It Tuesday (7-19-2022) – Formentera by Metric

 

Notes: On Tuesday’s, if time allow, I am going review a new album (at least an album new to me).

Album Released: 2022

About Metric: A Canadian Rock band founded in 1998 in Toronto, Ontario. “Formentera” is the band’s eighth full-length album.

Members: Emily Haines (Lead Vocals, synth, guitar, tambourine, harmonica, piano), James Shaw (Guitar, synth, theremin, backing vocals), Joshua Winstead (Bass, synth, backing vocals), and Joules Scott-Key (Drums, percussion).

What I know: Coming into this one, I knew of only one Metric song called “Gimme Sympathy” which asks the timeless question: “Would you rather be the Beatles or the Rolling Stones?” As it turns out, they are neither, more a band that sounds a bit of a cross of the Smashing Pumpkins or Silversun Pickups with a techno band.

Did you know?: Formentera is the smallest and most southerly island of the Pityusic Islands group which belongs to the Balearic Islands autonomous community (Spain). The word is derived from the Latin word frumentarium meaning “granary.”

My thoughts on Formentera: The album starts boldly with a 10-minute, 28-second song entitled “Doomscroller.” The song starts heavy with the synth and plods a bit, but the last three- or four-minutes cuts away a bit of the techno overtones with chilling vocals and striking piano. It’s followed by the most-played song on the album on Spotify in “All Comes Crashing.” It has the hooks one expects from a single with solid vocals. It’s driving beat and repetition with lyrics is repeated in the next tune, “What Feels Like Eternity.” The title track comes next and clocks in at 6:17, and it combines the synth beats with a nice string section, fitting closer with the album opener more than the previous two tracks.  I don’t know how the songs were released on this album, but the first three songs have listens ranging from 604,499 to 2,763,202, but the last half of the album has a high of 392,006 with “False Dichotomy” (a focused, catchy pop song) while the rest are lingering at 115,000. There are some nice points in all those songs, but I am not sure any does enough sonically to sound much different from any other song on the album.

The Wrap: It’s an album worth checking out, and one I would listen to again. I wish they’d ditch the synths more often and alter the beats to provide more individuality to the songs.

You’re up: Let me know your thoughts on this album, or anything new to you that you are listening to this week.