CD reviews
Our thoughts on recently released albums
Blitzen Trapper
Furr (Sub Pop)
*8.8*
Goes well with: Beachwood Sparks, Stephen Malkmus, your parents’ record collection
If you like your rock ’n’ roll all over the place, Blitzen Trapper’s Furr is gonna paste a smile on your face and raise a tent in your trousers. I don’t think I’ve heard an album since London Calling that’s found a band tackling genres with such precision and reckless abandon. If this is the face of indie rock to come, we’re in for a fun couple of years.
Where The Clash were a punk band that embraced rock and reggae to define their sound, Blitzen Trapper take their indie roots and smother them in psychedelia, stoner metal and folk. A descendant of two generations of folkies, band leader Eric Earley wrote and recorded most of Furr by himself, and this, along with the band’s home base of Portland, Ore., seeps through in their sound.
The acoustic title track is easily one of the best folk songs of the last 10 years and is destined to become a classic, primarily for its phenomenal lyrics, which rival anything by Dylan or Neil Young. Speaking of Neil, “Not Your Lover” sounds like it could be the sequel to After the Goldrush. Elsewhere, “Love U” starts off Zeppelinesque but ends with soaring CSNY harmonies; other songs draw from the playbooks of Wilco, Beachwood Sparks and Grandaddy. In other words, Furr is a true rock stew with all the right ingredients, enticing you to take a heaping helping of the goodness.
—Dryw Keltz
Blitzen Trapper play Saturday, Nov. 29, at The Casbah.
Holly Golightly
& The Brokeoffs
Dirt Don’t Hurt (Transdreamer)
*7.9*
Goes well with: Loretta Lynn, The Bible Belt, liquor that’s 120-proof or higher
Holly Golightly Smith got her start in an all-female offshoot of British author and punk-blues musician Billy Childish’s band, Thee Headcoats. Of all she gleaned during that time, it seems what left an indelible mark was her countryman’s prolificacy. She won’t catch up with his 100-plus releases anytime soon, but Golightly is trying her damnedest. Dirt Don’t Hurt marks No. 18 since her 1995 solo debut, The Good Things.
The good thing here is that Dirt doesn’t sound much like any of those previous releases, except for You Can’t Buy a Gun When You’re Crying, last year’s initial collaboration with The Brokeoffs (Texas one-man band Lawyer Dave). Not that there was anything wrong with the meandering, lo-fi pop of the initial 16—it’s just that the Brokeoff records give Golightly a much-needed fresh, new identity.
The twangy, banjo-heavy Americana of Dirt feels authentic. Although it was recorded on the Northern coast of Spain during a week’s break amid a 50-date tour, you’d never know it. These songs are about love lost, God, guns and bourbon, and they feel as though they were captured on a porch in the Appalachians. Golightly and Lawyer Dave’s voices, equal parts of smooth and gruff, navigate this terrain nicely, never distracting from the moonshine-soaked setting. Golighty has the rare opportunity here to let her fans forget who she is and discover her all over again.
—Scott McDonald
Holly Golightly plays Monday, Dec. 1, at The Casbah.
Eagles Of Death Metal
Heart On (Downtown)
*7.8*
Goes well with: the desert, the ’70s, double entendres
Eagles of Death Metal will always be thought of as a Queens of the Stone Age side project. Their sound oozes with that same desert-rock vibe, and, of course, Josh Homme is involved. On the other hand, they’re a bit more fun than their more famous counterparts.
If both bands were addicts, Queens’ drugs of choice would be coke and meth, while Eagles would be content with pot and acid. They may still be crazy desert guys, but Eagles are more likely to rock your ass than kick it.
I’m a late comer to this band, but Heart On has won me over, especially the mid-album run of “Secret Plans,” “Now I’m a Fool” and “Heart On.” Many groups these days are taking serious stabs at genre-hopping with mixed results (see: My Morning Jacket), but Eagles seem capable of jumping around the FM dial. Perhaps it’s because they’re a side-project and it’s implied that side-projects get leeway when it comes to experimentation. Either way, the album is a true roller-coaster ride. How often these days do you get a soaring guitar solo like the one on “Cheap Thrills”?
When I saw Eagles for the first time, I was impressed by how fervent their fans were, but their look and sound were kinda gimmicky, so I gave them the headphone test. Well, the verdict is in, and the next time they come through town I’ll most likely be acting like an idiot and singing along, too.
—Dryw Keltz