Quick Hits, Vol. 197 (Jim James, Jim James, Rayland Baxter, Punch Brothers, The Record Company)

Before I get to the new albums, I just have to note some very good albums that I already sort of reviewed because of ACL, and so while I'm not feeling the need to write a full on note about them here, I just have to note that these albums are very good.

• Ruston Kelly - Dying Star
• Shame - Songs of Praise
• Manchester Orchestra - A Black Mile to the Surface
• The Wombats - Glitterbug

Jim James - Uniform Distortion.  Another solo record from the My Morning Jacket singer.  Has some bright spots, but also some rough-edged tunes that never find a good groove.  The funny thing with these tunes is that they're pretty inseparable from MMJ - they use the same groove-jam-blues-rock blueprint as the regular MMJ tunes, obviously with James' vocals on top, so its odd to me why he even wants to go out and make a solo album instead of just sticking with his mates.  Maybe they all hate each other.  But songs like "Throwback," with the extended guitar jam in the middle and the sung harmonies, have the total taste and feel of a classic MMJ tune.  I think I like the straight-forward rock out of "You Get to Rome" the best on here, but "No Secrets" (a quieter rock meander that, of course, erupts into guitar fireworks) and "Throwback" are vastly more popular in stream counts.  The album opener has the most streams - "Just a Fool" - with 827k.  But I'll give you a live version of "Throwback."  Get 'em.

So, I dig MMJ, and so the fact that this album sounds like another album from those dudes is a good thing.  The continuous guitar riff in "No Use Waiting" very much sounds like a slowed down riff from an old MMJ song.  Whatever the label is on the album, I like it.

Jim James - Uniform Clarity.  Never knew this existed until just now, but James apparently released a companion album to go along with Distortion, just 3 months later, that remakes all of those same songs in an acoustic sound.  Which I thought I'd love.  Strips out the chugging guitar that usually defines my favorite tunes, but lays out the lyrics in a way you don't fully grab during a rock and roll grind.  But what it also does is expose James' voice and show you some holes and vulnerabilities in his range that you don't hear when the band is blaring along.  "Throwback" ends up sounding like he's yelling and yelping over the top of a nice fingerpicked tune.  Feels like maybe a few of these could have been slotted into the rock album, for a change of pace, but the whole album of them is weak.  It's too bad, but nothing on here really works that well.

Rayland Baxter - Wide Awake.  This guy came to ACL a year or two ago, and I remember enjoying his stuff back then, but this album is solid as well.  Kind of a Beatles vibe on these tunes, well, sort of post-Beatles Beatles, as though all four of the guys left to make their solo tunes, then came back together and made their solo sounds into a new Voltron of the Beatles.  Groovy and hook-filled, its great.  I also hear Spoon in it, mainly in the piano bits.  The album suffers from the same issue as many streaming albums do these days, with significantly more plays at the start of the disc than at the end.  So it would appear that "Strange American Dream" is the most popular tune, at 1.3 million streams.  But I'm not so sure that one represents the best of this album (although its good).  "Let it All Go, Man" is a beauty ending the whole album.  I'll give you the second-most streamed tune - "Casanova," with just over a million streams.

Good groove.  For some reason, I thought the dude was from Texas, but he's actually a Nashville guy.  I know, intrinsically, that this guy is never going to get a big following and will keep making good music under the radar, but I enjoy it.

Punch Brothers - All Ashore.  Speaking of under the radar, being the greatest mandolin player of all time gets Chris Thile zero notice other than through the types of Grammys that are given away before the cameras turn on.  If you've read this for a while, then you know that I love these guys.  I loved Nickel Creek even more, but this band is also packed with some of the best instrumentalists on the planet, playing intricate and detail-filled folky, bluegrassy, Americana for the NPR listener.  The mandolin is the star, but it wouldn't have as much room to run and jump and spaz if the banjo, fiddle, bass, and guitar didn't create an expansive soundscape for it to play in.  This link doesn't take you to their song, but just go witness some of the insanity of Thile's skills on the mandolin as he plays Bach.

Anyhoo, this is the full band, not just Thile doing his thing alone.  I saw them this summer and it ruled.  While I very much enjoy the mandolin fireworks, and Thile's voice is also excellent, nothing on this album is especially strong.  Feels like these songs are technically tight but emotionally lacking.  I think I like the instrumental "Three Dots and a Dash" is my favorite, but I'll give you the second-most streamed tune, "It's All Part of the Plan," with 535k streams.

I'm guessing that is an anti-Trump tune, without taking the time to go research and read about it.  But my sweet Lord look at his fingers fly in that solo around 2:30 minutes in.  I so wish I could do something that well.  I'll let this album go and just keep listening to Who's Feeling Young Now.

The Record Company - All Of This Life.  Good stuff.  I'm well aware that their band name is up there with the worst ever in the world, but their brand of bluesy classic rock is super tasty.  I saw them play live here in Austin a few weeks ago, and they put on a fantastically heavy show (ending with a cover of the Beasties' "Sabotage") to a smallish crowd of mainly middle-aged white dudes. Also saw them a year or two ago at Antone's, and they rocked it out there as well. That being said, this album is very enjoyable rock and roll.  The top track, which I hear on the radio here and there, is called "Life to Fix" (although I would have called it "Brick by Brick").  1.8 million streams for the radio edit, 629k for the regular version.

I remember previously writing about these guys and they scored a Grammy nod for their first album, rising up out of obscurity as a new band made up of old hands from random LA bands.  But again, I don't think they'll ever actually gain any fame with a name like this.  Literally every single person I said their name to, in the lead up to that last show, asked me to repeat myself, made a face, and then refused to speak to me again.  If you can forgive them the name, then go jam the tunes.