Categories : Country + Western, Music Reviews, Rock + Pop.
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Rating: 2.5 / 5 Reviewer: Trent Depue |
Regarded as one of alt-country’s foremost pioneers, Jay Farrar is known for many things, but being upbeat and positive isn’t necessarily one of them. To that end, the pace of his sixth Son Volt release should not come as much of a surprise to anyone. American Central Dust starts with a bang on track ‘Dynamite,’ a sign of good things to come. Unfortunately while the record does have flashes of brilliance, the low-lights are numerous enough to detract from the record as a whole.
While songs like ‘Cocaine and Ashes,’ an ode to Keith Richards – which includes the grin-inducing lyric “I snorted my father / and I’m still alive” – and ‘Pushed to Far’ show Farrar at his most engaged and interested, others fail to match their stride. This despite these being two of the record’s slowest paced songs. Others, like ‘Roll On,’ ‘Dust of Daylight’ and ‘No Turning Back,’ fail to capture the same emotion, even if they are lyrically sound. On the other side of the spectrum are tracks ‘Exiles,’ ‘When the Wheels Don’t Move’ and closing track ‘Jukebox of Steel,’ which collectively provide the record’s up-tempo contribution, though up-tempo is a relative term in this case.
And finally, in flexing his narration muscles, Farrar attempts to do for the ‘Sultana’ what Gordon Lightfoot did for the Edmund Fitzgerald, in recounting the historical tale of America’s worst maritime disaster – “The Titanic of the cold Mississippi,” as he puts it. Farrar’s effort may never receive the praise Lightfoot’s epic did, but it is nonetheless a fitting lament to an old American tragedy.
The third installment in Jay Farrar’s most recent incarnation of Son Volt, American Central Dust, comes across as adequate, but unfortunately doesn’t push the boundaries much beyond that. Positives do come from the addition of a few new band members. Specifically, the steel guitar work of Mark Spencer is an instrumental highlight beyond any other on the record. Despite that though, Farrar’s reputation still seems to overshadow his output.
