With only two prior albums to their credit, a sixteen-song retrospective may seem premature. Then again, this is the group's tenth anniversary, those albums having come out back in the '90s. A few tracks appear on CD for the first time; a few songs have been re-recorded; three more saw the light of day only on compilations. Commander Cody's "Daddy's Drinkin' Up Our Christmas" is one of two Christmas songs. Leading this cult band from Portland, Maine, is singer-songwriter Scott Link, with Charlie Gaylord on electric guitar. In spite of the group's name, and a good one it is, not all of the songs evoke the pungent smell of diesel as vividly as "18 Wheels Of Love", "Thin White Line" and "My Girlfriend Is A Waitress". The group takes its cues from roots-rock as much as country, but a few songs, such as "If I'd Shot Her When I Met Her (I'd Be Outta Jail By Now)" and "I'd Like To Quit Drinkin' (But I Live Over A Bar)", are pure honky-tonk in spirit, albeit in a twisted sort of way. Diesel Doug formed his group the year Dick Curless died. That seems fitting somehow.
Read next
ALBUM REVIEW: Celebrating Life with The Lone Bellow on ‘What a Time to be Alive’
On their sixth album, What a Time to Be Alive, The Lone Bellow captures the joyful vitality of their live shows, as well as the band’s deeply intimate friendship that they share in their camaraderie with their audience. The songs on this album, which were written collaboratively for the
ALBUM REVIEW: Clay Street Unit Debuts Ear Worm, Fearless Newgrass on ‘Sin & Squalor’
It’s likely difficult being a new string band today. The role comes retrofitted with some onerous responsibilities. There are certain tenets to uphold, time-tested musical traditions to follow, duty weighing on every roll and break.
With the release of Sin & Squalor, however, it seems newcomers Clay Street Unit
ALBUM REVIEW: Boy Golden Turns Suffering into Hope on ‘Best of Our Possible Lives’
Boy Golden (the stage name of singer/songwriter Liam Duncan) centers his fifth studio record, Best of Our Possible Lives, around the lead single and opening track, “Suffer.” Dirty, cosmic guitars swirl around similarly muddy drums that emit a transcendent throb. Razor-sharp lyrics (e.g., “I want to know where
Comments ()