No Depression,What It Sounds Like Vol (2004)

After nine years of writing about music, the editors of “No Depression” have cut out the wordy indirections with this thirteen track essay on alternative country music. No doubt they’ve been pieced together compilations like this for friends, but now those outside the immediate circle now get to share in their obsession. This thirteen track collection has the breadth needed to stake out a genre as hazy as “No Depression.” There are founders (The Carter Family) and legends (Johnny Cash, Doug Sahm, Emmylou Harris), alt.country darlings (Whiskeytown, Robbie Fulks, Alejandro Escovedo, Lucinda Williams) and artists from the various spokes of the alt.country umbrella. And as if that weren’t enough, there are frictional sparks thrown off by several surprising collaborations. It’s fitting that the collection opens with one of mainstream country music’s biggest stars and most ornery individualists, Johnny Cash. The combination of Cash’s riveting baritone, Willie Nelson’s song of a murderous preacher, and Seattle’s finest grunge-rock musicians (Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil, Nirvana’s bassist Krist Novaselic, and Alice in Chains’ dummer Sean Kinney) is just the sort of alchemy that frees country music’s essence from Nashville’s commercial constrictions. The battle between John Carter Cash’s acoustic 12-string and Thayil’s storming electric provides truly magnificent accompaniment to Nelson’s tale of temptation. Alison Moorer’s “Is Heaven Good Enough For You” provides a compelling segue, tagging off on the preacher’s theme to introduce a moving eulogy for Moorer’s mother. It’s an incredibly confident and personal turn for a debut album (this is drawn from Moorer’s 1998 “Alabama Song”), and features superbly wrought harmony singing. It’s a perfect example of how major labels (MCA in this case) can innovate on the edges of their commercial inclinations. Buddy Miller’s “Does My Ring Burn Your Finger,” provides another side to that coin, having been turned into a hit single by Lee Ann Womack. The latter couldn’t muster the deep soul of this original, but showed off the sheer quality of Miller’s songwriting. Whiskeytown’s “Faithless Street” finds poster boy Ryan Adams summing up much of the alt.country experience with Gram Parsons’ styled anguish, and the declaration, “So I started this damn country band / ‘Cause punk rock was too hard to sing.” The combination of twanging guitars, bending steel and Caitlin Cary’s old-timey fiddle lines show off several of the flavors included in the No Depression rubric. Segueing once again, Adams wasn’t the only artist who’d gravitated from punk rock to country. Alejandro Escovedo, having started out in The Nuns and crossing genres with Rank and File, settled in by founding the Austin-based True Believers, and subsequently recording a series of solo albums. Escovedo’s “Five Hearts Breaking” shows how well he writes with the troubadour’s touch and human detail of Springsteen and Zevon. Neko Case’s “Thrice All American” is a moving waltz-time ode to her hometown of Tacoma, WA. The near-jewel of the Pacific Northwest (Seattle won the railhead and the battle was over) has always struggled for identity in the shadow of the nearby Emerald City, and with dwindling input for its pulp-mill, the downtown has never seen the resurgence city planners continually hope for. Tacoma’s residents struggle similarly, and Case, having moved to California, sings with a dollop of regret. Robbie Fulks’ “Parallel Bars” shows off the sort of lyrical dexterity that (once-upon-a-time) made Roger Miller a star. Unfortunately, Nashville was no longer in the mood for this sort of cleverness in the mid-90s, leading to Fulks’ exasperated kiss-off “F*ck This Town.” His duet with Austin-based songbird Kelly Willis is full of twang and steel. In the end, this collection shows that there isn’t actually a “No Depression” sound. Instead, the genre is defined by its ethos, rather than the specifics of its melodies or instrumentation. And in that sense, it’s closer to the original roots of country music than the formulized sounds that emanate from Nashville. “No Depression” is the sound of music rendered for communication, rather than commerce. It’s music whose emotional detail is found at the surface, heart firmly on sleeve. Some of these artists may have come to country music in reaction to punk rock burnout, but like those steeped in the music from day one, the cathartic channel of these hill-bred sounds is just at home in the big city as it is on the farm. The album closes with a trio of tunes that more directly call out their roots. Hayseed (aka Christopher Wyant) duets with Emmylou Harris on the traditional “Farther Along,” and a rowdy “mob” of alt.country musicians, including Mark Olson, Victoria Williams, and Greg Leisz sing Mickey Newbury’s nostalgic “How I Love Them Old Songs” under the moniker of Hole Dozen. The album ends fitfully with the magazine’s monikorial inspiration, The Carter Family’s “No Depression.” The musical starkness of the Carters provides great contrast to the album’s other dozen cuts, but the continuity of emotion and purpose is clear and undeniable. Anyone interested in learning what all the fuss about would be well served by this lively and beautifully programmed disc. Those who are already “in the know” will enjoy the opportunity to have No Depression’s editors be your DJ for an hour. Now, when’s Volume 2 coming out?
 
Was this review helpful?