ALBUMS: Vinyl BY STEVE BELL LUCINDA WILLIAMS SOUTHERN SOUL: FROM MEMPHIS TO MUSCLE SHOALS & MORE Cooking Vinyl
There’s finally a vinyl release for the second covers set that the great Lucinda Williams live-streamed in late-2020 as part of the Lu’s Jukebox series, featuring all-band sets recorded live at Ray Kennedy’s Room & Board Studio in Nashville which were broadcast to the world with the aim of raising money for venues and staff who’d been adversely affected by forced closures during the pandemic. In this second instalment of the altruistic endeavour Williams took the opportunity to run through a stream of classic soul tunes from the ‘60s and early-‘70s, as well as throwing in her own ‘Still I Long For Your Kiss’ and Bobbie Gentry’s country staple ‘Ode To Billy Joe’ (a song I now know inside out courtesy the Cocaine & Rhinestones podcast). They’re relatively faithful renditions - cast in Williams’ figure by both her inimitable voice and her hardened road band - with the focus being on the songs themselves, showcasing artists like Al Green (‘Take Me To The River’), Tony Joe White (‘Rainy Night In Georgia’), Anne Peebles (‘I Can’t Stand The Rain’), Joe South (‘Games People Play’), Barbara Lynn (You’ll Lose A Good Thing’) and William Bell (‘You Don’t Miss Your Water’). Her expressive vocals naturally suit the timbre of these songs and the wonderfully curated set was recorded superbly, making this a welcome addition to the already wonderful Williams canon.
REIGNING SOUND A LITTLE MORE TIME WITH REIGNING SOUND Merge Records Memphis-bred musician Greg Cartwright has been at the rock’n’roll coalface for more than 30 years, racking up garage rock miles (and kudos) with The Compulsive Gamblers and The Oblivians, and even spending a short stint playing guitar with The Detroit Cobras. When about 20 years ago he’d stockpiled a group of songs too “moody and melancholy” for The Oblivians a new R&B-tinged outfit Reigning Sound was born, a band with still relatively raucous roots but which has itself matured and refined with the passing of time. Their new seventh album offers a restrained brand of garage with undeniable roots in Memphis Soul, but with constant and consistently excellent detours into R&B, rockabilly and country realms. It was recorded with the Memphis version of the band which Cartwright last convened for 2005’s Home For Orphans (as distinct to the NYC version he’s favoured on more recent records) and produced by Scott Bomar using vintage analogue equipment, resulting in a warm and inviting sound perfect for the album’s vibe. As with all good Cartwright compositions songs like the organ-infused ‘A Little More Time’, the ‘60s pop peddling ‘You Don’t Know What You’re Missing’ and barroom stomper ‘You Ain’t Me’ all come off like long-lost AM radio classics, while ‘A Good Life’ and ‘Moving & Shaking’ both use pedal steel for warmth and colour and a rocking cover of Adam Faith’s mid-‘60s hit ‘I Don’t Need That Kind Of Lovin’’ is thrown into the mix for good measure.
QUIVERS GOLDEN DOUBT Spunk Records
Golden Doubt, the second album from the Melbourne-via-Hobart four-piece - not including 2020’s reworking of the entire 1991 R.E.M. album Out Of Time as part of the vinyl subscription series for US culture vultures Turntable Kitchen - once more radiates an innately accessible vibe, in part due to the omnipresent guitar jangle, which places them firmly in an Antipodean construct. Yet while reminiscent in places of Flying Nun indie pioneers from across the ditch like The Chills and The Verlaines, and elsewhere doling out more Australian sounds and sensibilities akin to acts like The Go-Betweens, The Church and even Dick Diver, it’s frontman Sam Wilkinson’s smooth vocals and heartfelt, emotive lyrics which define Quivers and give them their own distinct identity. This is showcased succinctly in opener ‘Gutters of Love’, both in its lovelorn theme and cruisy, hook-laden spirit, as well as highlighting the band’s addictive female harmonies courtesy bassist Bella Quinlan and drummer Holly Thomas (guitarist Michel Paton also has a strong voice allowing for epic group vocals where required). There’s barely a misstep throughout, highlights including the doo wop-inflected ‘Nostalgia Will Kill You’, sentimental traipse ‘Videostore’, the super-catchy ‘Chinese Medicine’ (which subtly utilises a nine-person choir) and the way ‘Hold You Back’ gracefully introduces strings into the mix. There’s a loose theme of loss holding things together, but just as ‘Overthinking’ salves with its repeated refrain of “everything will be fine”, Golden Doubt deals with grief in a way that’s couched both musically and philosophically to ensure a fun and uplifting listen, safe in the knowledge that there’s light coming over the horizon.
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