Chris Berardo, Slaw, Wonderly and More
A whole bunch of great roots music albums have come in recently and we want to make sure and tell you about them; here we present capsule reviews of some of our favorites.
Chris Berardo - Wilder All the Time
Berardo rocks up Americana pretty good here, and on songs like "Take Me Back" his plaintive vocals ride a loping beat and country melody with a little twang and killer pedal steel guitar from guest Lloyd Maines. Unlike many singers, Berardo plays no lead instrument here; emotive vocals are his thing, with a little tambourine and harmonica playing here and there. Berardo has the nickname King of Fun and when he jams the somewhat eerie Southern Rock cut "The King of Fun" you can surely believe it. Fans of John Mellencamp and Tom Petty will dig this one.
Slaw - Here I Come
Slaw (real name Scott Colson) is a native of Macon and album title track "Here I Come" sounds like something that might have been inspired by a trip to a particularly spooky part of the Georgia hill country, with eerie fiddle parts adding to Slaw's ominous vocals. Slaw plays acoustic guitar but it is his emotive singing that shines here, tender on the reassuring "Baby Don't Cry," channeling the wisdom of John Hiatt on "Don't Go Down That Road" and dripping with desperation on "When It's Done." Guest singer Kayley Hill adds a female perspective on several cuts, making Slaw's great storytelling all the more potent.
Wonderly - Wolves
Wonderly is a Portland-based duo consisting of Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk; the pair are both multi-instrumentalists but
Wolves also features a host of guest players. Opening cut "It Was Written That Way" is sublime Americana with soft acoustic guitar, gentle orchestration and a catchy chorus that will resonate with fans of alternative pop groups that work in a similar vein. Steve Berlin of Los Lobos fame adds baritone sax to "Wall of China," throughout the cut and with a mid-song solo while acapella vocals begin the airy "No One Has a Name;" "Plaid Pantry" has shades of Beach Boys love and "Dancin with the Devil" is a lighthearted bluegrass-y poke at dealing with death.
The Sensational Country Blues Wonders! - If I Stop Moving, I'll Fall from the Sky
The brainchild of Gary Van Miert, begins with "We Are Made of Stardust," a catchy musing on the cosmos that mashes up the psychedelic sides of Donovan and the Byrds. There's a lot of stoner humor here too; "Why Did I Eat the Whole Bag of Mushroom?" plays out to a slow country waltz, the sitar-enhanced "One More Cup of Mushroom Tea" is in a similarly trippy vein and the album title cut is an obvious reference to getting (very!) high. While something of a novelty these songs are well written and lots of fun so they should not be discounted because of their theme. "I Rode the Bus with Joey Ramone"? Oh yeah!
Nick Taylor - Not Alone
Singer and acoustic guitarist Taylor begins his new album with "Dogs," a mid-tempo Texas rocker; the song's lyrics are not what you would call cryptic but some may find them hard to interpret. Never mind; the song is very intriguing, perhaps partially because it is hard to figure. Some might hear shades of Townes Van Zandt in cuts like "Dead Land Future" and echoes of Waylon Jennings in "Getting Along." "Broken Souls" is one of the album's best; it is full of quiet aching at the beginning and into the meat of the song where the instrumentation and tempo pick up. The lengthy closing cut "Songs About the Glory" will remind some of Gordon Lightfoot's opuses.
