Sound Salvation Army

Regardless of genre, instrumentation, or preconception this song is incredible. So much so that it compels me to talk at greater length about Drag The River, something I should’ve done long ago and somehow haven’t.

Earlier this year I mentioned them in my top 10 rundown, heretofore my lengthiest write-up about them so far. But their story goes back much much farther, beginning well before they ever bothered to let anyone know they existed.

The band started as a bit of a hobby for two wonderful Colorado-based punk rockers: Chad Price of ALL and Jon Snodgrass of Armchair Martian. In 1996 they started cranking out back-porch country jams in their garage, quickly recording some 20 tracks at their friends brand new studio (the now high-profile Blasting Room, also based in Colorado) after the collaborative environment proved so fruitful. The sessions proved popular enough that they began releasing them in 2000, continuing all the while with the regular bands.

A proper full-length album called Closed. was released in 2002, and its far and away their finest work. While it might be cliche to call an alt-country record a booze-soaked journey through genuine misery and loneliness, that’s sort of what it is. This is Snodgrass and Price at the collaborative best: Price’s more unplugged, traditional leanings melding with Snodgrass’ electric guitar work to create something that occupies a fascinating middle ground.

Since then they’ve sporadically recorded and released new and live material, building up a shockingly terrific catalogue. Seriously; their releases are incredible.

Perhaps reflective of the tenuous beginnings of the project they’ve broken up a few times over the years, most recently last year after the release of the great You Can’t Live This Way. They keep drifting back towards getting together and that seems to be the state they now exist in, playing sporadic shows with a rotating line-up that sometimes consists of the full band, Price and Snodgrass as a duo, or Price or Snodgrass on their own.

They’ve recently put out a glut of material, “leftovers” if you will: three 7″ singles and a CD compiling songs from those releases and earlier singles and splits. Much of the material is sparsely recorded, often consisting of little more than acoustic rhythm guitar, electric leads, and sombre vocals. Those singles and Bad At Breaking Up seem almost representative of the strife they’ve been through recently, the rift between members manifesting itself in the very sound of the recordings.

Anyway, the song: the first track you’ll find below is a cover song featured on their Under The Influence 7″ and on the aforementioned CD, both released by their label, Suburban Home/Vinyl Collective. Its called “Jeff Black Song #2,” because the song is technically either untitled or Drag The Rvier doesn’t know it. The story is that they know a guy named Jeff Black who is apparently a very gifted songwriter; they had a cassette of some of his demo recordings in their tour van and listened to it so much they more or less memorized the tunes. When it came time to record covers for the Under The Influence series they laid down one of his songs. Evidently Jeff Black never managed to actually get a record deal, record them properly, or release them. So for all intents and purposes, no one would ever know this isn’t a Drag The River song if they didn’t tell us. It fits so flawlessly into their catalogue and into the tenor of the compilation CD its kind of unbelievable.

I love this band and this song (and the others below) continues to demonstrate how phenomenal a group of performers they really are.

UPDATE/EDIT
A commenter points out that I’m wrong as hell! Jeff Black has released many, many quality albums that are available from his very own website. A podcast with the background on the covers single is right here. Thanks DownSouth! Sorry for the goof.

 

 Drag The River - Jeff Black Song #2 [3:25m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Drag The River - I Remember Now [5:10m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Drag The River - Has A Way With Women [2:53m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Drag The River CDs and vinyl products are available through Suburban Home and Vinyl Collective. Also, iTunes.

Pat entries acoustic, alt country, country, covers, Drag The River

7. Drag the River - You Can’t Live This Way
There’s probably no other band I’ve discovered in the last three years that has made as enormous impact on me as Drag the River has. Having already been a big fan of most of the member’s previous bands, it was a short leap to make. The story of this band is astounding; they broke up for the second time before this album came out, but it proved to be such an incredible group of songs that caught on so quickly they came back and started touring again to support it. The division between the group’s two primary songwriters is clearer than its ever been compared to their previous releases. Where they previously evened each other out, now they’re following their own tangents: one focuses almost entirely on quiet, sombre back-porch acoustic strummers while the other’s tendency towards weird rock/country hybrids takes over. Despite it’s more scattered nature, the songs are still incredible and I’d take either of these fellows over most bands any day of the week. Luckily, they’ve got four or five releases and some vinyl reissues planned for this year (many of them in February) so it seems they aren’t going anywhere.

8. the Lucksmiths - First Frost
Casual, acoustic-based pop songs from Down Under. After discovering this album a few months ago, I’ve since delved deep into their back catalogue, all the way to their first tape. It’s a bit astounding to me how one band can be so consistently good and still be completely unknown outside their native country, but I guess it happens. There really wasn’t a better album released this year to listen to while walking through a small town on a bright afternoon or sitting next to the window on a rainy day writing in your feelings journal.

9. Old Man Leudecke - Proof Of Love
Even when I thought this album was good, I didn’t realize how good it really was. I enjoyed a half dozen tracks immensely, but after his early set at the Folk Fest in Regina during the summer, seeing his awkward, hesitant charm in person, and realizing how much people I wouldn’t have expected to like him were enjoying his songs the rest really opened itself up to me. Effortless, friendly roots music that isn’t afraid to show its heart.

 

 Drag the River - Tobacco Fields: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 the Lucksmiths - Good Light [2:56m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Old Man Luedecke - Johnny Has Gone For A Soldier [2:10m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

You Can’t Live This Way is on iTunes and hard copies are put out by Suburban Home/Vinyl Collective.
First Frost might be a bit harder. I mean, iTunes is easy enough. Physical releases may be available through Matinee Records, but we’ll have to see about that.
Proof of Love dominates iTunes and Black Hen Music has his physical releases.

Pat entries banjo music, Drag The River, First Frost, indie pop, Old Man Luedecke, pop, Proof Of Love, roots, the Lucksmiths, You Can't Live This Way

So I’ve been listening to vinyl records for the last six or seven years, but it’s really amped up the last year or so as it’s suddenly become commercially viable or cool or whatever again. It’s pretty great to have the big art, the effort that goes into it, the whole tactile experience.

Lately, however, I’ve been doing everything I can to destroy that experience. My lady’s mom gave me a comedy LP she found at a garage sale or something, an album she’s never heard but based on the cover art and the dude’s name she would like to know what it’s like. So she asked me if I’d be able to get it onto a CD. Well, after a week or two of figurin’ and playing with the various cables and connectors I have I managed to put together a very workable patch system.

So I’ve been “ripping” all my vinyl-only material onto my laptop, cleaning it up, boosting the levels, and whatnot and loading those songs onto my iPod. It’s a wealth of material that is “fresher” to my ears because there just isn’t as much opportunity to listen to it all as frequently. So I’m totally psyched about it and I’m going to try to share that level of psychitude.

This will be the first of a weekly offering of material that has only been available on vinyl, sacrilegiously captured in a digital form.

Below you’ll find one of the best (and most traditionally country) songs by Colorado’s Drag The River, a scrappy group of old punk rockers who play their own brand of “alt-country.” Because I’m a nerd for the English language and word useage, I like this song that much more. Then, unique yet old-timey rock and rollers Murder By Death take on one of my most hated bands ever, Guns ‘n Roses, with results that I quite like. Apologies for the sound quality on that track; it appears the UK label that pressed it doesn’t give a shit for sound quality. Finally, a frenetic and hilarious re-write of Jerry Reed’s “I’m Gonna Write A Song” finds jokey punk cover band Me First and The Gimme Gimmes taking an unusually political slant. Key changes and the breakneck pace leave singer Spike Slawson gasping for air by the time it’s all over.

 

 Murder By Death - Don't Cry [3:55m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Drag The River - ...Has A Way With Women [2:53m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Me First & the Gimme Gimmes - I'm Gonna Write A Song [1:51m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Murder By Death’s Brother single features the Guns ‘n Roses cover as the b-side (how they made G’nR palatable shows just how great of a band they are) and can be procured here. Word of caution: it’s a UK import and thus is likely pricey.
Drag the River’s …Has A Way With Women 7″ features two other great songs and (thanks to a recent re-press) is available here.
Me First and The Gimme Gimmes‘ Jerry 7″ is part of their Square Dance Singles Series. The actual square-shaped vinyl version is long-since sold out, but the “yella” version should still be available to purchase through some retailers.

Pat entries acoustic, b-sides, country, covers, Drag The River, Guns n' Roses, Jerry Reed, Me First and The Gimme Gimmes, Murder By Death, vinyl

So I’ve had a few weeks. Two weekends ago my lady Jenny and I moved to a new apartment. The outgoing tenants are apparently dickbags, as we had to wait until five to move stuff out and the carpets were still wet after the steam cleaning. Anyway, moving was rough but we evenutally got it done.

The difficulty was compounded by the fact that I was my brother’s best man and had (somewhat) inadvertently scheduled a group of bachelor party activities for the same day/night. It was a long day.

The next weekend was his wedding, jammed full of wedding-type activities allowing nothing else to get done. That included writing a jaw-droppingly good toast to the groom, the morning of.

Now for the last week I’ve been dogs-sitting for the happy couple while they’re on their honeymoon. He’s like six months old, a chocolate lab that is completely retarded with more energy than anyone or anything should ever have. Oh, and dumps the size of a baby’s head.

Anyways, I’ve been busy and tired the whole time. That’s only been compounded by the fact that while all this was happening I’ve been moved to a 4:30am to 12:30pm shift at work. So suck on that, good night’s sleep! What, you don’t want to be in bed by 7:30pm every night? Then you’re going to be cranky all day long.

Anyhow, more stuff is likely coming. Some day. I need to find something to do in those hours at work when I’m not being even the slightest bit productive!

 

 Ween - Moving Away [3:05m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 the Decemberists - the Bachelor and the Bride [4:13m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Charlie Feathers - Wedding Dress of White [3:03m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Drag The River - Hang Dog [2:30m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Google these artists!

Pat entries Charlie Feathers, country, dogs, Drag The River, indie rock, moving, rockabilly, the Decemberists, wedding, Ween