Saturday, May 27, 2017
Justin Townes Earle
Album: “Kids in the Street”
Grade: A
Justin Townes Earle seems to have put away some of the demons that animated his earlier work. He’s sober, newly married and about to become a father, and the songs he writes don’t sound as tortured.
But if it feels like he has sorted things out, Earle demonstrates on “Kids in the Street” that he still has plenty to say. He’s playful, adventurous and settling into his talent, with an album that rivals his best work.
And that’s saying something. Earle long ago established himself as a first-rate singer-songwriter, living up to his legacy as the son of the one of world’s great songwriters, Steve Earle, and the namesake of another, Townes Van Zandt.
Now there’s a comfortable confidence – and less torture. He explains his newfound maturity on “What’s Goin’ Wrong” when he sings: “Now I’m not certain, but maybe I am learning. Maybe I’ll be the last in a long long line of hurting.”
And yet he’s still the next in a great line of songwriters, with a knack for putting an original imprint on what could have been a cliche. Earle does that wonderfully on the title cut, and again on “Faded Valentine,” a Patsy Cline-style journey through “a box of nothing much worth keeping.”
— Scott Stroud, Associated Press
The Charlatans
Album: “Different Days”
Grade: B
There are two parts to The Charlatans’ 13th album, “Different Days” – the first with sunny melodies and the other which samples their roots in Manchester’s baggy dance scene.
Opener “Hey Sunrise” leads with acoustic guitars and has a melancholy air like The Church’s “Under the Milky Way.” A melody that practically floats appears on “Solutions,” with Tim Burgess’ stretching the syllables.
More songs with a bit of bite like “Plastic Machinery” would have been welcome as Johnny Marr’s guitar and Verve drummer Pete Salisbury add some kick to the proceedings. New Order’s Stephen Morris also takes care of drums and programming on seven of the 13 tracks.
“Not Forgotten” kicks off imaginary part two, which sees the band setting their phasers to nostalgia and performing as if back in 1990 again, sharing a Madchester stage with The Stone Roses and Happy Mondays.
“There Will Be Chances” sounds like Stephen Duffy’s Tin Tin and “The Same House,” where they can all live and “wear matching shoes” reminds of 1991 sensations The Farm. Salisbury appears again on “Let’s Go Together” which joyfully picks up the pace before “The Setting Sun,” a brief instrumental.
— Pablo Gorondi, Associated Press
The Steel Woods
Album: “Straw in the Wind”
Grade: B+
Fame Studios producer Rick Hall maintains that Southern rock was born the day Duane Allman goaded Wilson Pickett into covering The Beatles’ “Hey Jude.” Allman proceeded to tear down Hall’s Muscle Shoals, Ala., studio with a series of guitar fills that spawned a half-century of imitators.
Over time that sound made its way from the Allman Brothers and other pioneers to Nashville’s country scene, where its sway remains obvious today.
Into this landscape come the Steel Woods, a Nashville band that bills itself as a hybrid of styles, from Americana to bluegrass to rhythm and blues. But they make no bones about being “steeped in the ethos of Southern rock,” which is obvious from the first steely twang of their debut album, “Straw in the Wind.”
This is, above all, a Southern rock album – and a good one.
Whether on a galloping murder romp called “Della Jane’s Heart” or the ballad “If We Never Go,” the Steel Woods demonstrate with gusto that this genre isn’t played out.
—Scott Stroud, Associated Press