As my buddies over at Draw Us Lines are pointing out, many albums are released throughout the year and could get ‘lost’ and forgotten in the annual retrospectives for some reason or other. I am trying to remedy that by highlighting these artists’ work that you definitely should know about.
Today I feature a bunch of good ole’ boys from Alabama. This is their second full-length with already having a slew of singles and a couple of EP’s under their belt. Now, don’t mistake their southern connection for country fried boogie rock. This album has been described as ‘lo-fi psychedelic American roots basement-baroque pop’. Kind of a mouth full but once you hear it you will immediately want to hear again as the press release promises. I hate the term ‘Wilcoesque’ with a passion, so I won’t even go there but listening to these guys could bring up some comparisons, unfairly or not. Bottom line, seek this out. Songwriter Jody Nelson was cool enough to participate in this ongoing year-end edition of First/Last.
- The first album you ever bought?
- It was either the Beastie Boys, License to Ill, or the Back to the Future soundtrack, both of which hit around 1986. I would’ve been about six or seven. I know I had both, because I can remember those two tapes and a Michael Jackson boombox.
- Your last album bought?
- iTunes: Purchased an album by that British power pop band Rockpile… with Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds. I don’t know the name of it. It’s kind of terrible. Would’ve been better off with License to Ill. I buy music almost every other day, in some form, so getting crap isn’t that big a deal.
- Favorite album of all time?
- Pet Sounds, but a lot of the time I’d rather listen to Blonde on Blonde.
- Least favorite/most disappointing album?
- I ignore the bad stuff, so… But most disappointing? I remember wanting a lot of bands to be great because of their record covers, most of which were created by the design company “Hipgnosis,” who did almost all of the great records of the late 70s/early 80s. The biggest disappointment was that Def Leppard was a crappy chick-song band. The covers were awesome, and I kept buying the tapes and being embarrassed when I put them in the player.
- First concert attended?
- Beach Boys played a concert before our local AAA baseball team “The Barons.” I could’ve cared less. Saw a lot of weird Baptist church music before that, though.
- Last concert?
- Gee, I dunno. I see bands at the Bottle Tree all the time here in Birmingham. Does that count or do you mean like Oasis? I hate giant crowds.
- Favorite concert ever?
- I saw Radiohead once.
- Least favorite concert?
- I can’t remember who was playing, but I remember a particularly bad night at the Oak Mountain Amphitheater here in Birmingham in about 1996. Lots of vomit and mud and fistfights and nasty smelling drug-smoke. It was probably some version of Lynyrd Skynyrd or someone.
- Any thoughts, experiences about Pittsburgh?
- Yeah. I’m pretty sure we have cousins over there.
- Thanks Jody. I have to say, your music was a great discovery for me this year. I would love to see you make it up here to the ‘other’ Pittsburgh some day!
