** The Fiery Furnaces at Empty Bottle, (773) 276-3600, Jan. 14
When I was growing up
in the Chicago-area during the 1970s, Southern rock had the good ol' boy, Union Jack stain and stink of Lynyrd
Skynyrd, Molly Hatchet, Charlie Daniels Band, Marshall Tucker Band, The Dixie Dregs, The Allman Brothers
Band and ZZ Top. I was a Yankee (if a Midwestern one, at that) and the songs of the south held no romance for
me.
That is precisely what makes the Southern rock revival, and my appreciation for bands such as My
Morning Jacket, Crooked Fingers, Kings of Leon and Azure Ray, to name a few, such a puzzlement. Even
non-geographical bands such as The Fiery Furnaces and The Black Keys celebrate the sounds of Southern
rock, and listening to them has become a pleasure for me.
It Still Moves (ATO/RCA/BMG) by My Morning
Jacket is the best of the bunch. A daring, jam-filled exploration of twang and tremolo, the dozen songs on It Still
Moves moved me to re-examine my attitudes about Southern rock. My Morning Jacket sounds like Neil Young
crossed with The Flaming Lips, on opening track 'Mahgeetah' and 'Golden.' They also slip effortlessly into
full-tilt boogie mode on songs such as 'Dancefloors' and 'One Big Holiday.' Jam-masters of the highest order,
My Morning Jacket has no qualms about letting loose on lengthy numbers such as 'I Will Sing You Songs,'
'Rollin' Back,' and 'Steam Engine.'
The four Followill brothers who make up Kings Of Leon give their
Southern rock a garage punk kick on their album Youth & Young Manhood (RCA/BMG/Vector). The
church-raised brothers also lend a gospel fervor to songs such as 'Red Morning Light,' 'Wasted Time,'
'California Waiting,' and 'Spiral Staircase,' among others. The album's biggest surprise is 'Trani,' full of Velvet
Underground-like observations about transvestites, bare-chested boys and hookers at the Greyhound station.
With connections to both Brooklyn and Chicago, The Fiery Furnaces still burn as bright as any authentic
Southern rocker on Gallowsbird's Bark (Rough Trade). On 'The South Is Only A Home,' with its blazing boogie
woogie piano and its titular mantra chanted by honorary Dixie chick Eleanor Friedberger, the South rises again.
Like a Delta blues mama, Eleanor singes every song she sings, including 'I'm Gonna Run,' the alarming
'Leaky Tunnel,' the front-porch-scorch of 'Up In The North,' the out-of-breath stomp of 'Asthma Attack,' and the
waltz of 'Rub-Alcohol Blues.'
The Black Keys are an Ohio duo that perpetuate pure Southern blues rock on
Thickfreakness (Fat Possum/Epitaph). Dan Auerbach on guitar and vocals and Patrick Carney on drums
sound both older than they are and bigger in number than they are. Vintage and voluminous, the 10 songs on
this CD live up to the album's title.
For quite some time, Southern rock has taken many forms, especially
when it comes from the Athens, Ga., area. The female duo Azure Ray (Orenda Fink and Maria Taylor), favor
dreamy synth pop over the more traditional Southern rock of the above-mentioned bands on their album Hold
On Love (Saddle Creak). Dream pop purveyors, Azure Ray manufactures lullabies for staying awake on 'The
Devil's Feet,' 'We Are Mice,' 'Look To Me' (on which they sound like late-career Kate Bush), 'Across The
Ocean' and 'Sea Of Doubts' (on which they conjure Julee Cruise), and 'These White Lights Will Bend To Make
Blue.' On a pair of up-tempo tracks, 'If You Fall' and 'New Resolution,' Azure Ray displays a knack for dark, but
infectious, pop.
From a similar modern Southern pop mindset, Red Devil Dawn (Merge) by North
Carolina-based Crooked Fingers is every bit as lovely as the Azure Ray disc, but on a more upbeat plateau.
Buoyed by strings and horns, and anchored by the sincere vocals of Eric Bachman (of Archers of Loaf fame),
the 10 wonderful songs, including 'Don't Say A Word,' 'You Can Never Leave,' 'You Threw A Spark,' 'Sweet
Marie,' and 'Disappear,' are lush little symphonies, sophisticated and unforgettable.
I Saw A Bright Light
(Daemon) by Nineteen Forty-Five, from Alabama (!), is more in keeping with the Southern rock guitar sound.
However, the punk rock vocals and ferocious drumming, and occasional lapses into shoegazing sets this
quartet apart from their brethren.
Sadly, Southern rock godfathers ZZ Top¸ whose unexpected '80s revival,
sputtered and faltered into the '90s, have hit bottom, and don't have much new to say or do on Mescalero
(RCA), their first new studio album in four years. Most of the 16 tracks play like Southern rock colliding with
heavy metal. Only the album closer, 'Liquor,' with its insistent beat, custom made for remixing, and the line,
'She took my liquor and left me the can to crush,' are a reminder of the ZZ Top of old.
With the O Brother,
Where Art Thou? soundtrack, T-Bone Burnett not only revived the lost art of the movie soundtrack, but he also
revived interest in the music of the South. Burnett continues his mission on Music From The Motion Picture
Cold Mountain (DMZ/Columbia/Sony Music Soundtrax), the soundtrack to the Civil War-era Anthony Minghella
movie starring Nicole Kidman, Jude Law and Renee Zellweger. O Brother's Alison Krauss returns on this
soundtrack and is joined by The White Stripes' Jack White (who also appears in the movie), among others for
this traditional-sounding soundtrack.
BRITNEY, PINK, SARAH ON NEW GAY.COM CD
Gay.com has
released the Gay.com Winter 2003 CD, including new pop and dance tracks by Britney Spears, Pink, Sarah
McLachlan, Rufus Wainwright, Willa Ford, Shelby Lynne, Linda Eder, Van Hunt, Casey Stratton, Nellie McKay,
Siedah Garrett, Joss Stone, Starsailor and Brooke. The sampler CD will be offered exclusively to new
subscribers of Gay.com Personals through Jan. 15. See www.gay.com/misc/2003/11/giftpack/
