I admit, I read too quickly when I put this submission into my playlist and thought it was the new Caitlin Cary–you know, the chick from Whiskeytown.  And truth to tell, there’s a similar sound: Smart country, with little-to-no twang (and where there is some, it’s subtle, tasteful, and charming).  But Ms. Rose is more traditional–and I mean that in a good way.

In fact, with every listen I’m loving this more and more. Especially the track titled “Waitin’.” It shoulda been the single! But I Was Cruel is good, too.

Check it out.

RIYL: Patsy Cline, Jack White’s album with Loretta Lynn, and, yes, Caitlin Cary.

I Was Cruel (direct link mpfree)

Apparently, The Wrinkle Neck Mules already have quite a little following. They’ve even been featured in a Geico ad. But they’re still on an indie label (Lower 40), making fantastic country music–Athens style. They’ve struggled lately, with some lineup changes due to tragedies, but they’ve come back strong.

Here’s a live recording of the new single, “When the Wheels Touch Down.”

BONUS: CORDUROY ROAD

If you like WNMs, you might also dig these dudes. They’re a little more “traditional” country. From their latest album, “Two Step Silhouette,” here’s the single as an mpfree.

“Love You Can’t Shake”

Apparently, Dead Confederate made a small splash at SXSW this year, and it was a blog about the band’s performance there that got me interested. I went to eMusic and downloaded the EP, expecting little more than Drive-By Trucker rehash, but willing to give it a try. Boy am I glad I did.

Yeah, the band is similar to DBTs in both subject-matter and genre (as well as geographic origin), but they are younger and fresher. Where Patterson Hood sounds like he’s got a foot in the grave, Dead Confederate have spring in their step, even when the content is dark. For example, “Memorial Day Night” is a painful ballad of a man who doesn’t have his girl’s heart, “now that the truth is all out,” and therefore, he is a man who “has no heart” at all. Touching lyrics and brevity mark this brilliant tune, and the simple melody is crisp and pure, where other Southern rockers tend to prefer mud and grit. The juxtaposition works well here, as it does in the ‘70s style Skynyrd piece, “Tortured-Artist Saint,” which looms then swells then comes back down into a jam and then crashes out. The signature tune is “The Rat,” a barnburner that should be posted on every blog in the universe but for some reason, isn’t.

You need to hear this band’s stunning debut.

Get Out

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“Thank the Lord for heroin, and thank him for your soul.” How did an album with a lyric like that get by me? And it’s not like that’s the only drug poetry on Spider Bags’ “A Celebration of Hunger,” a 2007 release from Birdman Records. Just about every tune is a tribute to excess. To wit: “Wakin’ up drunk makes me happy. Lately, you just bring me down.” And to a woman who wants to save the soul of a drunk: “I’ll gladly take your offer, now that I’m not so sick.” I could go on quoting this record for days.

A North Carolina six-piece punk country band, the Spider Bags are ostensibly Americana, but it’s the kind of reeling-in-sickness music you’d expect from Neil Young, Gram Parsons, Meat Puppets, or down-tempo Counting Crows. Every song is able to find beauty in pain and darkness, with lyrics (“She’s got a crooked face when she smiles”) that are as thoughtful as the music behind them. I’m gonna go so far as to call this album brilliant. That’s right, brilliant. There’s not a bad track on the entire record, and it’s a goddamn shame I didn’t hear about this album when it came out, because it easily would have made my top 10 for the year.

I hope to hell someone keeps me updated on their doings–and I hope even more that they don’t all die in a collective overdose before they record another album. As for this one, you can find it on emusic, and it’s well worth your time.

Blood for You

Waking Up Drunk

So, a few weeks ago I get this e-mail:”Diacon-Panthers is endearing southern indie rock from Knoxville, TN.” They give me a link to hear their new record. Here it goes . . .

“Days of Wonder” starts out like grungy psychedelia, along the lines of Black Mountain, until, after a long and fascinating it descends into the sonic mess that characterizes the rest of the album: Indecipherable vocals, jangling guitars that seem to fight each other as often as they harmonize, and a drummer who apparently snorted all the speed in Knoxville. This is a group who seem to constantly battle any sense of melody or harmony. Even when they slow down, like on “Actress,” the vocals have a nasal, “Blind Melon” quality that’s jarring. In fact, jarring is probably the best word for this Americana Punk band. I’m on the fourth cut now, and I need to catch my breath. I never like to review a whole album in one sitting, lest my mood at the time color my perception. But in case you’re wondering . . . I fucking loved every minute of it so far.

I come back and start where I left off, with “St. Anthony,” which features a very off, faint and echoey distortion on Natan Diacon-Furtado’s already offbeat vocals. Oh my god. This is so unlike . . . Anything. There’s elements of lots of things here: Southern rock, indie rock, punk . . . There are moments where I hear snatches of something familiar . . . But every time I feel comfortable, the tune takes a right turn and leaves me behind, struggling to catch up.

The Diacon-Panthers need a big break. I hereby call upon all my fellow bloggers to write about this band. Write to me, I’ll send you their e-mail address. These guys have rocked me to my core, in a way few band submissions ever do. Truly.

St. Anthony

When It Comes To The Night

You can get their CD at CD Baby.

Patterson Hood, star of the Drive-By Truckers, has performed complete sets of songs written by the two opponents of Cover Wars Two, posted all this week. First, in 2006, he performed six Mick and Keef tunes. To wit:

Loving Cup
Moonlight Mile
Silver Train
Shattered
Before They Make Me Run
Star Fucker

ZIP FILE

Its an awesome show, bested only by his Bruce tribute set, performed last year . . .

Badlands
Something in the Night
Candy’s Room
Racing in the Streets
Adam Raised a Cain
Darkness At The Edge of Town

ZIP FILE

Now, we’ve already picked our Cover Wars winner. But this proves, we all CAN just get along!

And don’t forget the new Drive-By Truckers album, coming out later this month. I heard one song off of it, and it might have been the best DBT song I’ve ever heard.

For those of you who don’t know, Califone are an incredibly interesting experimental Americana band. Check this out, from their latest album, Roots and Crowns, on Thrill Jockey records:

Spider’s House

Anyhoo, in 2004 the band got together and did a short set of Stones songs. Yesterday, we posted round one of this week’s cover wars. Round two begins with this great Califone set. The really cool thing about it is that instead of covering the tunes everyone else covers, they chose an Exile-heavy set list and really rocked out. I love this show. Quality is pretty good, too. Hope you dig it. No zip file this time because there’s only seven tracks.

Street Fighting Man

Ventilator blues

Turd on the Run

No Expectations

Rocks Off

Miss you

Bitch

So, who has done a Springsteen tribute show? Well, I don’t have a whole show, but I do have two songs. Adam Duritz makes two manly mournful songs into two plaintive whines. But if you’re gonna listen to whining, it might as well be Counting Crows, one of my all-time favorite mainstream rock bands.

Atlantic City

Thunder Road-Counting Crows

And the winner is . . . The Crows do a great job, but there’s only two songs here. Califone are truly ambitious, and it’s pretty ballsy for a small-time band to take on the world’s biggest rock band. Hmmmm. I’m tempted to call it a draw, but that’s the pussy way out. So, I’m giving round two to . . . Califone. And, therefore, The Rolling Stones win it.

Twilight Hotel occupy that strange space in the alt-country landscape occupied by artists from Canada who make Americana rock. I’m proud to make them one of my first 2008 reviews (album release date: January 29), because they have an authentic sound that offers more variety than the typical release in this genre.

Highway Prayer, the Winnipeg band’s second album (their first was nominated for Best Americana Album at the 2007 American Independent Music Awards), goes from dark storytelling to rockabilly and twang, and covers much ground in between. Working with folks like Richard Bell (Janis Joplin, The Band), Stephen Hodges (Tom Waits), and Dave Roe (Johnny Cash), it’s easy to see how they’ve managed to create such a rich album. Courtesy of Killbeat.

Oh, and if Highway Prayer doesn’t make you want to walk across the Key Bridge at dusk, with the whooshing of cars and blurry glow of headlights at your side, then you may just have no soul at all. It is the standout track on the album and truly haunting.

Viva la Vinyl

Highway Prayer

37. Jason Isbell-Sirens of the Ditch (review).

This young refugee from the Drive-By Truckers dropped a great country-rock album. Here’s some great live cuts, which of course is what the DBTs are best at.

American Girl (Tom Petty cover)-Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

Jailbreak (Thin Lizzy)-Jason Isbell

Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line (Waylon Jennings cover)-Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit’s Mike Dillon on vocals

Psycho Killer (Talking Heads)-Jason Isbell.

Whipping Post (Allmans)-Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit’s Mike Dillon on vocals.

Moonlight Mile (Rolling Stones cover)-Jason Isbell (live)

Mighty Midshipman-Jason Isbell and Centro-Matic

18. Okkervil River-The Stage Names.
23. Ryan Adams-Easy Tiger.
34. The Broken West-I Can’t Go On I’ll Go On (review).

What a fantastic year for Americana. Okkervil releases what I think is the best album of their career, The Stage Names, which ends with a brilliant coda saluting Brian Wilson (an artist often cited as being the most influential on indie rockers). Ryan finally gets back to the art of songwriting, after many self-indulgent stops along the way. Not to mention his winking foray into hip hop. And The Broken West arrive on the scene, bringing all their own tightly written, wonderful songs.

I recently posted live versions of nearly every track off Easy Tiger. Check it out here.

As for other samples of these great bands . . . I’m kicking off some mp3s with three Okkervil tunes from 2003, performed with Mendoza Line.

Kansas City-Okkervil River with Mendoza Line
Roll Another Number for the Road (Neil Young Cover)-Okkervil River with Mendoza Line
A Damn Good Disguise-Okkervil River with Mendoza Line

I Want It That Way (Backstreet Boys cover)-Ryan Adams

Mellow My Mind (Neil Young Cover)-Okkervil River

Baby On My Arm (Original Version)-The Broken West

Our Life Is Not A Movie Or Maybe-Okkervil River (from The Stage Names)

And, last but not least, a complete live set by The Broken West, opening from the Walkmen last March:

Down In The Valley
So It Goes
Big City
Slow
Hale Sunrise
Brass Ring