Turn It Up - August 12, 2024

Earworms, obsessions, recommendations

It’s another week, so we’re back to share some things we’ve been listening to. David is up first, then Charles. As always, we’ve listed a bunch of reading recommendations at the end.

Joe Jackson – "In Every Dream Home (a Nightmare)" (from Beat Crazy, 1980)

Joe Jackson turned 70 yesterday, and I want to say Happy Birthday so... My sense is that these days, when Joe Jackson’s Beat Crazy is remembered at all, it’s simply for being his third and final album with his original backing band and for Jackson declaring it in the album notes to be a “desperate attempt to make some sense of rock and roll…” and “destined to failure.” Critics were only too glad to run with that assessment, but I always liked the album. (“Not as good as Look Sharp! but way better than I’m the Man” was about the extent of my take at the time.) Now, this was surely not the first time my taste was in conflict with the critical consensus but, very important to me, this was the first time I noticed it. And of course that made me even fonder of the album: My short-lived, undergrad go at a zine was called Beat Crazy! The title track was maybe the first ska I’d ever heard (or, again, at least the first I’d noted). I liked the piano ballad sound of “One to One,” though I disliked the toxic narrator, and liked the menacing new wave of “Biology,” though… same. My favorite cut, though, was “In Every Dream Home (a Nightmare).” Today I can see it was riffing on Roxy Music’s “In Every Dream Home a Heartache,” though back then that was lost on me. Eschewing Ferry’s sad blow-up doll enthusiast, Jackson’s character likes to watch, a creepy little punk version of Glady Kravitz. He spies on his neighbors, assuming the worst, and bassist Graham Maby’s slinks and skanks around with him. Not for the first or last time, Jackson’s young man here isn’t so much angry as is he is cynical. But the track’s reggae-ish groove, and that slow melodic build to screaming misanthropy, still totally works for me even though I know the guy probably just needs to get out more. – DC 

George Strait – “Three Drinks Behind” (single, 2024)

I’m going to go ahead and call the third single from his forthcoming 31st studio album, the unpromisingly titled Cowboys and Dreamers, to be George Strait’s best single since at least “Drinkin’ Man” all the way back in (yikes!) 2011. Not that I expect “Three Drinks Behind” to make a difference for radio, but its loping, country-rock strum-thwack-clap keeps him from falling further behind on the modern country rhythm front. The song nods to Vern Gosdin with each chorus (“Set ‘em up, Joe”), while offering self-medication as the prescription for a world that don’t add up and barstool philosophizin’ about what really matters. As escapes go, it’s bound to fail, but while the buzz lasts, George’s croon sure goes down smooth. –DC

Dalton Harper – “Rhythm of the Road” (from Dalton Harper, 2024)

Speaking of Strait… Why have so few of his hits been covered over the years? Maybe the records he made are just too distinctive, too perfect, or maybe everyone just realizes they don’t have the vocal chops to keep up. Here’s hoping that Dalton Harper kickstarts a Strait trend with his version of “Rhythm of the Road.” Strait cut it for his #7 album back in 1986 in a version that channels Scotty and Bill at Sun. It wasn’t a single, but it was a nice change up for the singer, “the closest Strait had come to rock and roll since back in his Pearsall days,” as I once noted, and “quickly became a staple of his live shows.” Instead of leaning into the rockabilly potential of Dan McCoy’s song, Harper takes it full on bluegrass, flatpicking the rigors of the road and extolling its pleasures. The former lead guitarist for Missouri’s The Harper Family bluegrass gospel group, Harper has a strong low tenor, think Keith Whitley tender blended with some Ricky Skaggs sharp, and when friend Zach Top joins in, it’ll make you think George Strait should’ve it done it like these boys, who make George’s old “clackety-clack” speed along like a bullet train. – DC

Todd Snider – "Conservative Christian, Right-Wing Republican, Straight, White, American Males" (from East Nashville Skyline (Purple Version), 2024)

Todd Snider’s “All My Songs” project has him working his way through his career, album by album, song by song—just him, a guitar, and lots of stories. (The rootsy singer-songwriter calls them his “Purple Versions” because he’s cutting them at Nashville’s Purple Building studio; it’s all downloadable for free, here.) Snider’s "Conservative Christian, Right-Wing Republican, Straight, White, American Males" was, in its post 9/11 moment, a welcome and hilarious painkiller. From here in 2024 it’s the rhyme that follows the title that really lands for me, predicting as it does the bougie-and-small-business Tea Party and Trump counter revolutions to come: “Gay-bashin', black-fearin', poor-fightin', tree-killin', regional leaders of sales.” Snider—or as he puts it, “Tree-huggin', peace-lovin', pot-smokin', porn-watchin' lazy-ass hippies like me”—knows all this name calling is very funny. But he also understands it’s not funny at all. We’re all “looking for someone to blame,” he sings in the bridge, sensing if only briefly that this way only leads to a dead end. But then it’s “I know who I like to blame” and, boy, is that chorus hilarious. – DC

Carsie Blanton – “Ugly Nasty Commie Bitch” (single, 2024)

Blanton’s latest little broadside—I don’t mean that “little” dismissively; the cut’s literally fifty-eight seconds long—reprises Snider’s idea and is just as funny. People hurl the title slurs at her, so she leans into the stereotypes with cartoon iterations of her abusers’ worst fears: She rolls up American flags for tampons, castrates men and… you get the idea. “I know what I am,” she asks, “but what are you?” That’s when she rhymes “backward hick” with “tiny dick” and… you get the idea. Blanton’s song is more mean-spirited than Snider’s, which is just to acknowledge we live in more mean-spirited times, but she also offers the beginnings of a way out: “Maybe we don’t know who we ain’t met / Maybe nobody wins but the already rich / If you’re a dumb redneck and I’m a commie bitch.” Bonus: The video has a good beat and you can dance to it! –DC

MonoNeon (feat. Mavis Staples) – “Full Circle” (from Quilted Stereo, 2024)

Memphis’ MonoNeon is a gloriously eccentric, Prince-approved genius, a singular studio auteur whose new album Quilted Stereo may be the best demonstration yet of his strange magic. George Clinton shows up to the party, but the album’s standout guest is Mavis Staples, who sounds like she’s having a helluva good time on this bouncing affirmation of individual worth and community support. As wonderful as the verses are, with the duet partners exchanging lines and joining together in harmony and unison, my favorite section is the funky-fresh instrumental break, where MonoNeon shows off his skills while Ms. Mavis adds playful interjections. It’s pure joy, a feeling you can’t miss even before the very end, when Staples gets the final word: “That’s alright, that’s alright. This is a fun song.” Amen. – CH

Joy Clark – “Lesson” (from Tell It to the Wind, 2024)

Joy Clark, a shining light of the young generation of folk-based artists, is getting ready to release her debut album on Righteous Babe Records. She previews it with “Lesson,” a stunning tribute to her grandmother and the gifts she left behind before her death. Over a guitar line steeped in the blues of Clark’s Louisiana home, she sings of freedom struggles and personal commitments as handclaps and background voices gather in call and response. As Clark explains, “’Lesson’ isn’t just a reminder of rock music’s Black, queer and Southern roots, it’s also an unapologetic demand that we take our rightful place in the struggle for freedom.” In both sound and vision, it resonates most recently with the great Legacy album from Kyshona, but its theme of generational wisdom passed down and among Black women is a root of so much great music across the decades and genres. Speaking of which, in the aftermath of Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon’s death, it’s impossible not to hear her legacies in Clark’s affirming message and circling melody. And I can’t think of a better or more appropriate connection. I can’t wait for the whole album. – CH

Lauren Watkins (feat. Ashley Monroe) – “Pretend You’re Coming Home” (from The Heartbroken Record, 2024)

Lauren Watkins’ great new album is an embarrassment of riches, featuring 17 songs that trace the pathways between the country, pop, and rock of the last thirty years. (Sheryl Crow shows up on “Set My Heart On Fire,” another example of Crow’s status as a key elder for this cohort of young artists.) Right now, my favorite cut is “Pretend You’re Coming Home,” a duet with Ashley Monroe that builds from a muted acoustic intro to an expansive second half driven equally by screaming rock guitar and weeping steel. Watkins’ rich alto centers the sweeping dynamics of this heartbreaker putting a brave face onto the raw nerves just underneath the surface. There’s nothing new about “Pretend You’re Coming Home” or The Heartbroken Record, but it’s rare to hear the familiar pulled off with such skill and effectiveness. – CH

Caylee Hammack (feat. Foy Vance) – “The Hill” (single, 2024)

Another great release from Caylee Hammack, who always sounds like she should be among the biggest stars in country music. But, of course, as our friend Marissa Moss recently noted on Don’t Rock The Inbox, “[Music Row executives] ‘don’t know what to do with her’ because she’s not fitting into the current bro movements on the radio.” This is another why-the-hell-not winner from Hammack, pairing soaring fiddles and boot-stomp percussion with a real-talk conversation about the end of a love affair. Hammack sings the hell out of it, and she’s joined on this version by Foy Vance, who matches her every torch and twang with empathy and drive. (The first time I heard this, without seeing the credits, I thought her duet partner was Buddy Miller, a comparison that speaks about as highly of Vance as possible.) Both epic and intimate, “The Hill” is a knockout on every level. – CH

Jett Holden (feat. Cassadee Pope) – “Karma” (from The Phoenix, 2024)

The latest single from Jett Holden’s debut on Black Opry Records, one of the most anticipated releases of the Fall here at NFR, “Karma” is a full-throttle rocker assisted by Cassadee Pope. Holden’s gravel-road vocals mesh perfectly with the echoing New Wave of this restless meditation, especially when Pope joins in on the pounding, power-chorded chorus. As usual with Holden, there’s a great lyric too: Holden personifies karma to throw your shit right back in your face. “If you think karma is a bitch,” he sings in the knockout hook, “then the truth is that you may be a bitch yourself.” (You heard him.) Holden might not just end up with some of my favorite country music of the year – right now, “Karma” sounds like a good contender for one of my favorite rock records as well. Yee haw, and hell yeah. – CH

Recommended reading:

-Lorie Liebig launches BarnBurner, a new online music magazine

-Rodney Carmichael talks to Killer Mike, for NPR.org

-Stephen Thomas Erlewine reviews X’s Smoke & Fiction, for Pitchfork

-Rob Sheffield on the enduring popularity of Creedence Clearwater Revival, for Rolling Stone

-Barry Mazor on the new album from Shelby Lynne, for The Wall Street Journal

If you like what you’re reading here, please think of subscribing to No Fences Review! It’s free for now, although we will be adding a paid tier with exclusive content soon. Also, if you’d like to support our work now, you can hit the blue “Pledge” button on the top-right of your screen to pledge your support now, at either monthly, yearly, or founding-member rates. You’ll be billed when we add the paid option. Thanks!