Album Review: Mudcrutch- 2

Mudcrutch

2

***and1/2 out of *****

From the opening number of Mudcrutch's newest album you are instantly placed back in the southern wilds; dancing outdoors on a warm spring night, listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd and recalling the blues and better times in a folksie sort of way. The song is aptly titled "Trailer" and while the band has problem with names (Mudcrutch? Is there a worse band name) and album titles (this one is inventively titled 2) they certainly don't have any issues spinning their style of easy rolling rock and roll.

For those who missed it the first go around Mudcrutch is a blast from Tom Petty's past, this was the band that initially brought Petty to LA before his solo career. After decades of fame he invited a few original players to re-team with some of his Heartbreakers to create their first official album in 2008. What was perhaps most surprising was the unassuming style of the original and 2 amps up the looseness giving the whole album a lift over it predecessor.

From the quick toss off, string propelled "Save Your Water" to the upbeat banjo laced two-stepping "Other Side Of The Mounatin",  the albums seems to have been done freely and that B-side ease is the root of its rootsy charm. "Dreams of Flying" is a strumming mid tempo jaunt with great backing vocals, the get-up-get-down of "Victim of Circumstance" cooks from the drop, and the delicately affecting "I Forgive It All" aches gloriously.

The only misstep is the six and half minute "Beautiful Blue" which is sluggish and never really catches any sort of vibe, instead dulls the disk as the song stagnates. Things pick up immediately though as "Beautiful World" featuring Randall Marsh on lead vocals, shoots out of the chamber next with its light, upbeat rocking.

The disk closes with "Hungry No More" a fantastic showcase for Mike Campbell's criminally underrated guitar playing and at over 6 minutes it could have sprawled out even further, and hopefully will live.  

Side-projects can take lots of forms and now two albums in it is clear Petty puts Mudcrutch up close to his main band in terms of commitment. While not meant to be earth shattering or even very necessary, the album is certainly worth a few summer night spins under the stars; Mudcrutch 2 is a fun, loose ramble.  
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Support the band, buy the album and peep some video below:

New Mudcrutch Video for "I Forgive It All": Sean Penn Directs, Anthony Hopkins Acts.

A few months ago we reviewed Mudcrutch's second album, "cleverly" titled Mudcrutch 2. We missed them live when they played Webster Hall but we heard from good sources that the show was solid all around. Now some more Mudcrutch news as they have a new video out for "I Forgive It All".

Not just any youtube clip though, they have partnered with Sean Penn to direct and Anthony Hopkins to act in this black and white release which you can see on the bands Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/tompetty/videos/10153728023735905/

It is a good fit for a mellow song. Enjoy it.

Dylan Cover #395 Mudcrutch "Most Likely You Go Your Way And I'll Go Mine"

In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today's artists, Mudcrutch doing a live cover of "Most Likely You Go Your Way And I'll Go Mine" 

Thoughts on Original:
From the first time we tackled a cover of this song:
It's that thin, that wild mercury sound. It's metallic and bright gold, with whatever that conjures up. Those are the phrases that Dylan himself used to describe the sound that he wanted on Blonde on Blonde. Safe to say he got it and perhaps never more so than on "Most Likely You Go Your Way And I'll Go Mine". That whirling organ that sounds like it may actually take flight, the tempo, the cutting lyric, hot damn this song is a joy. RtBE actually got to see him open a show way back with this one and it was a hoot, not as good as the original, but a gem to see live and hear anytime.

The closest I ever got to the sound I hear in my mind was on individual bands in the Blonde on Blonde album. It's that thin, that wild mercury sound. It's metallic and bright gold, with whatever that conjures up.

Cover:


Thoughts on Cover Artist:
We have reviewed Mudcrutch in the past and dig their blues rock sound, but not their name. Fun that Tom Petty gave these guys a late career, very very cool of him.

Thoughts on Cover:
A pretty solid fan video which starts a bit late but captures the spirit and song performance very well. In fact if their are better versions of the band doing this one let us know in the comments and we will update the video as this is a fun, if straight ahead cover.

Album Review: The Flaming Lips - American Head

The Flaming Lips

American Head

**1/2 out of *****

The Flaming Lips creative and commercial peak arrived at the turn of the millennium as The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots moved them from small time oddball acid freaks into big time acid freaks with heart and surprising depth. Since then the band have followed their own path, mixing with pop stars, covering classic artists and devoting full albums to straight up drugs. Now the band mixes those exact inspirations on a (very loose) concept album titled American Head with mixed results.

Album Review: Tom Petty - An American Treasure

Tom Petty

An American Treasure

**and1/2 out of *****

For Tom Petty, an artist who is fairly well defined by his Greatest Hits, the release of the sprawling box set collection An American Treasure, is a bit puzzling and unnecessary. The artist himself already released one back in 1995 titled Playback which managed to capture outtakes and alternate versions from his early years. He also combed through his complete touring history, releasing an excellent five disk deluxe Live Anthology in 2009.

Obviously box sets are for diehards and completist's, so his fans will eat this up, but do his late career outtakes and live offerings warrant this large of a collection? The answer is no and for those who are looking to get into the artist there are much easier ways to do so.

That all said the music collected here is up to Petty's high standards. Alternate versions of a few of his best known tracks, live offerings and early Mudcrutch all show the professionalism of the band,  and Petty as a consistent songwriter, but few truly elevate the artists career or for the alternate versions, replace the official releases. The tracks were selected by Petty's daughter Adria, wife Dana and long time Heartbreakers Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench so the collections heart is in the right place.

It begins by going back to the beginning of course as the early outtake "Surrender" kicks off and screams southern Bruce Springsteen with it's shine and power. Some lesser loved tracks from his first album get a remastered treatment as "Rockin' Around (With You) and "The Wild One, Forever" ring loud and free while a live version of "Anything That's Rock and Roll" from Hollywood in 1977 pinpoints the era.

Petty's career was a bit blurry at times and selections like "Deliver Me", "Damage You Done", "The Best of Everything" are all fine/middle-of-the-road for the catchy songwriter while "Walkin' From The Fire", "Don't Treat Me Like A Stranger", "Gainseville" and "You Can Still Change Your Mind" are all dull and probably didn't need to be showcased at all.

Along those lines, for a crack whip live band the stagnate "A Woman In Love (It's Not Me)" doesn't do the touring players justice but on the flip side a live version of "Kings Road" from Hard Promises is a blistering rocker that crackles with energy. The more delicate "Alright for Now" and the outtake "Keep a Little Soul" both dynamically showcase the softer side of Petty while "The Apartment Song" demo with backing vocals from Stevie Nix is the best uncovered gem in the box. 

The collection is a chance to examine some of Petty's later day releases and unfortunately The Last DJ songs do not get better as "Have Love Will Travel" and especially "Money Becomes King" still feel out of touch from the rocker who made a career out of radio hits. Hypnotic Eye, Echo and Mojo tracks all show the professionalism still but again don't cause reevaluation of the just OK original releases. Petty's best album in the 2000's, Highway Companion only gets two tracks here, the highlight of the original record, "Down South" and a live version of "Saving Grace".

In Steve Hyden's piece on the box set he mentions that we view artists output differently after their death, evaluating their releases with yearning ears because we know their won't be much more new coming from them. Spot on, he also nailed our feelings of Petty exactly in his book Twilight Of The Gods: A Journey To The End of Classic Rock when he states:

"Tom Petty could always be counted on to be just good enough Tom did not have to prove it all night. He was fine knocking off at around 11 PM.”

An American Treasure convinces Hyden to reconsider that stance, even going so far as to say that the massive release is a good place for newbies. I feel that Petty's surprising passing is still raw in Hyden's ears and he is being too kind and I feel he got it completely correct in his book. Petty's American Treasure is not on par with other career spanning outtake and b-side collections from major artists like Tom Waits Orphans or Dylan's amazing Bootleg Series, and is superfluous.

There is a reason Petty's Greatest Hits is his best selling album by far, this is definitely not the case with most "classic" artists. His hits were dynamite, most albums were let downs and you really didn't need to dig too deep to get the best out of him and The Heartbreakers. Greatest Hits, Wild Flowers, The Traveling Wilburys and The Live Anthology would pretty much cover everything you really need from this no doubt American treasure.
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Support the artist, buy the album and peep some video below: