Nov 17, 2011
Nov 16, 2011
Best of 2011 So Far...
Alright, this is the final "Best of 2011…" before the year end list. As you may notice, there's been a great deal of upheaval since the last update. New albums I can't get enough of have rocketed to the top (Quails, Hellbound) and some that were previously high in the rankings have grown tiresome (Blitzen Trapper, Ha Ha Tonka). See what you think and tell me what I've missed (and there are some I just haven't heard enough yet - Boland's new album for one).
1. The Damn Quails - Down the Hatch
2. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - Here We Rest
3. Hellbound Glory - Damaged Goods
4. Hayes Carll - KMAG YOYO
5. Jimbo Mathus - Confederate Buddha
6. Cary Anne Hearst - Lions and Lambs
7. Butch Walker and the Black Widows - The Spade
8. Austin Lucas - A New Home, In the Old World
9. Kasey Anderson and the Honkies - Heart of a Dog
10. Ponderosa - Moonlight Revival
11. Adele - 21
12. Stoney Larue - Velvet
13. Drew Kennedy - Fresh Water in the Salton Sea
14. Ryan Adams - Ashes and Fire
15. Pistol Annies - Hell on Heels
16. Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears - Scandalous
17. Mastodon - The Hunter
18. Will Hoge - Number Seven
19. Miranda Lambert - Four the Record
20. Bad Meets Evil - Hell (The Sequel)
21. Scott H. Biram - Bad Ingredients
22. Larry Hooper - Between Here and the Stars
23. Left Lane Cruiser - Junkyard Speed Ball
24. Raphael Saadiq - Stone Rollin'
25. Centro-matic - Candidate Waltz
26. Eli Young Band - Life at Best
27. Adam Hood - The Shape of Things
28. Glossary - Long Live All of Us
29. Mike Ethan Messick - The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday
30. Blitzen Trapper - American Goldwing
31. Cody Canada and The Departed - This is Indian Land
32. George Strait - Here for a Good Time
33. Robyn Ludwick - Out of These Blues
34. Ha Ha Tonka - Death of a Decade
35. Childish Gambino - Camp
Nov 15, 2011
Hellbound Glory - Damaged Goods
Hellbound Glory's new album, Damaged Goods, is out today and you better buy it (here!). The boys have retained all the swagger and grit of their previous release, Old Highs and New Lows, but shock of shocks.... they've matured.Oh, they haven't wiped their repertoire of drug references, attitude and guilty pleasure hooks, but they've grown as a band. Their already solid songwriting has gotten tighter. Their musical chops have gotten stronger... and their passion for the music only seems to be burning hotter.
Thankfully, the band has also held onto their dark (but somehow not particularly depressing) worldview. Junkies chase their habit into the sunset because that's what they're hellbent on doing. Women leave because that's what they do. We're just left to drink about it, and though there may be some self-pity mixed in, it's always a fully enjoyed self-pity.
The highlights of the album for me are lead single "Better Hope You Die Young," a warning that hard living isn't conducive to long life, and "Gonna Be a Goner," a catchy woe-is-me toe tapper with an earworm chorus.
"Knocked Off the Horse" is the track that sticks with you, though. It presents the case in matter-of-fact storytelling, that some drug addicts are just destined to let their dependence kill them and there's nothing you can do about it. It's an uncomfortably edgy take on the subject that paints the druggie as almost a heroic figure. It's a breath-taking tune.
Grab this album now if you like stone country with a modern bent and an unfiltered look at the seedier side of life. <---cliche but true
Damaged Goods is a gem.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
LinkWithin
