It’s gonna happen when you listen to music—you’re going to realize that the band you love is following in the footsteps of an even greater band. I’m not talking about when you realize that the Black Crowes are just a cheap imitation of the Rolling Stones. I’m talking about a really good band who nonetheless is following in the steps of giants. I love the AltCountry band Blue Mountain and their album, Dog Days, but listening to Son Volt’s new A Retrospective: 1995-2000, I realize that Blue Mountain was following in the path of Son Volt, and Uncle Tupelo before that.
At first when you realize that there were others who had come before your favorite band, perhaps you’ll feel like you missed the boat. However, with A Retrospective, you no longer have to stand on dock. You can jump on this tour boat, and hear the charm, jangle, whine, and energy of Son Volt’s music. When you return to the dock, you might pick up that Blue Mountain disc again, but you’ll never be quite the same, because now you’ve seen the whole harbor.
What’s incredible about Son Volt’s retrospective is the amount of incredible material that this band put out in three albums over five years. Some bands take five years in between albums, but Son Volt continually pushed sonic country air through the amps and wires. While the band took a hiatus, and guitarist/singer Jay Farrar has released some classic solo work, the band is set to release a new album. Before the boat leaves to explore new waters, though, you can see where the band has been.
It’s the rockers on A Retrospective that capture how Farrar is able to sing a ballad over those upbeat chargers, bringing the same mournful, country, back-of-the-throat warble to the barn burners. Farrar’s voice makes the bluesy country rock of “Drown,” the collection’s gate-jumper, cry with even more blues feeling. “Driving the View” has a push-ahead rock tempo while the harmonies on the vocals are all balladry derived.
Elsewhere you get to hear how Son Volt is able to cherry pick from the rock sound and bring those fruits into their country jam. “Route” is the country rock feeling that the Gin Blossoms wanted to do. “Straightface” has Farrar singing through an amp and playing a distorted harmonica, giving the song a rawness like some hard-edged band but bringing that to the country rock form.
From the mellow cuts, the previously unreleased “I’ve Got to Know,” a Woody Guthrie tune, features Farrar solo on acoustic guitar sounding very much like Bob Dylan in the Freewheelin’ period, a poignant sound in these days of war. It’s a reminder that while many have followed in the steps of Son Volt, Son Volt is also following in the steps of giants. And so this is how music is made—building on the forms, sounds, words, and chords of those who have played before.
WIN THIS CD!
To win a copy of Son Volt’s A Retrospective, please send an email to pastorsquires@lsol.net. Winners will be asked to send $1.50 in postage (Non-U.S. residents will be asked to pay postage through PayPal). Thanks!
Thanks to Son Volt, Rhino Records, Transmit Sound, and Special Ops Media for the review and giveaway CDs.
