Deer Tick/Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams
Beyond the Eternal Old-Timey
Divided 50-50 fast ones-slow ones, this doesn't rock as unreservedly as the bar-burning "The Bump," "Something to Brag About," and "Let's All Go to the Bar" want you to think. But it's sure the right course correction for guys who've always fetishized the eternal old-timey more than any band from goddamn Providence should. There's release along the lines of "I don't care if you puke in my ride/Let's all go to the bar/Baby just as long as you take your piss outside/Let's all go to the bar." And on drummer Dennis Ryan's "Clownin' Around" there's an equally satisfying release from heroin, the closet, child abuse, or some combination of the three‑-maybe prison, maybe death, maybe hell. A MINUS
The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams (Egyptian/CMF/Columbia)
Unlike Woody Guthrie, Williams is loved more for his singing than his lyrics, and boy does some of this retrofitted doggerel lack character as entuned and delivered. Hank's granddaughter Holly and Amy's hubby Vince you'd guess, Uncle Merle reciting a farewell sermon probably not. But what you definitely wouldn't figure is Nashville tastemonger Patty Loveless accessing her inner twang or a Dylan named Jakob grabbing an unusually witty lament (OK, maybe he had dibs of some kind). And what you'd only hope is Alan Jackson imparting just the right gravity to the despairing opener‑-or Jack White two-stepping his find so lustily you know he has an all-Hank cover album on his life list, and that it can't possibly match up. B PLUS
So, a selective little goes the whole way for me:
Quark Strangeness and Charm is indeed the whole-album highlight, for the reasons mentioned: weird wit, but still wit; things drone better with Neu!; catchy.
In Search of Space marks something new in Britrock world; "Silver Machine" fits better here than on any compilation I've heard; y'know, it is the perfect soundtrack for squatters throwing a cheap-LSD party in an abandoned building.
In the Hall of the Mountain Grill offers the most prominent Lemmy presence of any release; spiffy cover art.
Space Ritual ... well, uh, I consider this one of the great pseudo-classics, can't remember when I last played it, but never managed to get rid of it, either.
Hawkwind... John of Leydon's fave rave post-psyche band (not counting Can, Beefheart, et al here, dig).
i swear by the extraordinarily excruciating extra-terrestrial excursions of Hall of the Mountain Grill and In Search of Space myself; others go for the nigh formless extremely extra-sonik psyche-noise pollution of Space Ritual. pick yer poison and wallow in the black hole-mired manifestations of their... er... craft.
all due praise to the Lemmy!!!
praise him, i say!!!!!!
edit: bah! beaten to the punch (line?) by N.M.M.!
about the blogger
Starting in 1967, Robert Christgau has covered popular music for The Village Voice, Esquire, Blender, Playboy, Rolling Stone, and many other publications. He teaches in New York University's Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music, maintains a comprehensive website at robertchristgau.com, and has published five books based on his journalism. He has written for MSN Music since 2006.
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