Farce the Music

Mar 23, 2018

5 New Johnny Paycheck Parody Album Covers

Album Review / Great Peacock / Gran Pavo Real

by Matthew Martin

When I first heard Great Peacock's EP a few years ago, it felt like it was the beginning of something special - an inside peek at the beginning of the rise of an obscure band. 5 years later, and it still feels that way when I hear a new Great Peacock offering. The band's sophomore album is no different as the band takes a slight turn away from the gentle, melodic Americana and more towards the psychedelic, Americana-tinged rock.

The last output, their great Making Ghosts album, was everything we had been promised from their self-titled EP. It was a melodic outpouring of yearning tunes with Blount Floyd and Andrew Nelson's voices working perfectly together. The band toured restlessly off that album, coming to DC at least 4 times, I believe, during that time. Around the last couple of times the guys came through, you could hear something shift in their music. There were 2 acoustic guitars on stage, then there was one acoustic and one electric, then there were only electric guitars. The songs began to shift sonically and jam a little more.

On Gran Pavo Real, those new sounds are apparent with the opening organ-heavy jam of "Hideaway." The harmonies of Floyd and Nelson are still there and the heartbreak-driven tunes are still there, but there is a shift in the tone towards a Pneumonia-era Whiskeytown. But, never to fear, there are still hints of the old Great Peacock there - "Begging to Stay" and "Miss You Honey" being the two most akin to their previous album.

There's always a bit of concern with a new album from an artist you really like - are they going to hit the mark they were aiming for and if they do, is it the mark we're wanting to hear? Will they grow in a way that stays close to their sound but sees them exploring new themes and sounds? On all accounts, I think Great Peacock hits every note right on this Gran Pavo Real. They take a chance moving away from their first album and coming up with an even better version of themselves. They're bluesier ("Heartbreak Comin' Down"). They're subtler at times ("All I Really Want is You"). And, they're just all around better.

This is the kind of album that's just right for the upcoming Summer. It's going to be on my stereo all year long, for sure. There's a song for every occasion, high to low. And the music is rollicking and a damn good time. You should go buy this album, and then buy another for a friend. Then, go to every show these guys put on near you. Let's make the world know Great Peacock.

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Gran Pavo Real will be released next Friday, March 30th and you can pre-order it at iTunes, Bandcamp, and other music outlets.

Larry Lee the Primitive Baptist Reviews Old Dominion's "Hotel Key"

It seems like I'm living a lie. I used to review country songs and pop-country songs for this here blog, but these days all Trailer has me listen to are pop and hippity hop and rocking roll songs that still have the gall to call themselves country. It's disheartening and I believe it to be sinful (the lie that they're country; not that I'm reviewing them). But anyway, here we go.

This is another song from Old Dominion, a sleazy looking bunch of boys who like to sing about stalking women and wearing stupid looking hats (according to their appearances, it is probably pulled from the sweat-soaked, smoky pages of their own lives; not that I would judge). Well, I guess that's one way to go about things. It's not a Godly or respectable way, but it's a way.

"Hotel Key." From the very title, you are immediately aware that some untoward situations are probably about to be recounted. It's not like a song about my wife losing her hotel key at the Million Dollar Quartet show in Branson is good song material for popular radio, so it has to be about fornicating or whatnot.

Annnnnd it is. Oh, ye of the olde dominion, fornicators shall not inherit the Kingdom of God. Put your pecker away and save that thing for your betrothed wife. Sins of the flesh are sins against the body. Flee from doing the sideways shimmy! You'll have a solid 3-5 years of all that you want once you get married.

Another evil spoken of here is the mary wanner. Don't think I don't know what they speak of here. I'm from the seventies! Your body is a temple! Do you want to bring something into the temple that makes you want to lay on the couch all day watching Life Below Zero and eating Doritos all day? Well, that's what my son-in-law does and he ain't worth a …. I mean, he is not living within the Word at this time.

There's also mention of drinking in this song and you can probably imagine how the Lord and I feel about that. We don't even have real wine at the Lord's Supper, so I sure don't approve of it in a Motel 6 with a floozie and a doobie.

In summary, this song is as wretched as most I've reviewed for Farce the Music and it is also pretty lame. I needed three hours of Gaithers on YouTube to scrub it from my ears.