Sturgill Simpson - The Ballad of Dood & Juanita. I'm a sucker for anything this guy does - his bluegrass albums last year freaking ruled - and this one is weird and wooly, with clever stories and one particular moment that makes me laugh each time I hear it. This album takes the bluegrass mastery he showed on Cuttin' Grass (check the breakdown in the middle of "Shamrock," good gravy!) and applies it to a new set of songs (instead of his old catalog) with a story woven through them of old timey Kentucky settlers. Dood is a son of a mountain miner and a crack shot with his rifle. Juanita is a good hearted woman who calms down his worst impulses. Their story goes south when Juanita is kidnapped and he has to go on a mission to rescue her, but the hero wins in the end. Instead of the top track of streams, I want to give you "Juanita," because it contains the line that makes me laugh. 2.6 million streams.
"JUANITA!!! Where'd your momma get that name!?" Love it. Need to belt it out at a concert sometime soon. Sturgill's Austin show from March 2020 was cancelled and I don't think it ever got rescheduled. Which is dumb. "Sam" is the top song, which is too bad, really, because its about Dood's dog dying too soon. I don't know why the best songwriters in the country genre need to keep making songs about their dogs dying (see "Maggie's Song" from Chris Stapleton) but hearing him sing about how amazing his dog was makes me sad about the day when my dog might die. But still, the song is good and it works in the fabric of this album. Great disc.
Billy Strings - Renewal. If you aren't a fan of bluegrass, then I'm leaving you without a lot of good options here with my first two selections. Sorry. But also, not sorry, because these dudes are absolutely fucking kingpins of musical instrumentation. Like, outrageously skilled players, both of these albums. This one has a more modern skin on it - Strings melds bluegrass with a jam band feel on many of these songs to give it a much different feel than the Sturgill disc (which is tradition all the way through). And I may have just triggered more of you by mentioning jam, but you should really give this thing a chance and just make sure that you want to completely close yourself off to happiness and goodness and the American Way. Up to you. Anyway, if you don't know Strings yet - more importantly, if you haven't seen the dude live yet - then you need to get on board now. His band is made up of killers at each axe - banjo, mandolin, bass, and guitar - and he can be both poignant and witty with his lyrics. I promise you it is good. (although I can definitely recognize a perspective that his band name is dorky as hell). The top track is "Fire Line," which is almost at the end of the album. Must be on a playlist somewhere. 1.5 million streams.
That track definitely gets into the jammy stuff I mentioned before. Heavy on banjo picking and old-school harmonies and fiddle (for the bluegrass crowd), but those faux deep lyrics and the extended soloing and weird spaceship-taking-off sounds shifts it into something for the stoned to zone out to. I really enjoy this disc. I know bluegrass and jam aren't everyone's cups of tea, but I could just keep this one rolling.
Silk Sonic - An Evening With Silk Sonic. Blown away by this album. Tossed it into the queue as a lark, but freaking dig it very deeply. Makes me laugh repeatedly - in "Leave the Door Open" when he sings "if you hungry, I got the Lays," in the middle of a soft and sultry love-making tune, that shit is funny. And the entirety of "Fly Like Me" is funny as well - just the smoothest, funkiest brand of braggadocio on the streets. "Silk Sonic lemme getcha three piece and a biscuit!" Probably, fans of real funk from the 70's will say that this is all just derivative and not that interesting, but I will say back to them that they need to just die and stop being jerks. Because this is fun. (I could do without the line where Bruno Mars talks about wanting the "gushy gushy good." I can't get that out of my head and I don't want it anymore). Oh yeah, I guess I should mention that this is Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, making perfectly pitched harmonies over the top of killer funk tracks. They feel like they belong together, like they're brothers who have spent 30 years singing together and learning each other's every cue. Every track has over 8 figures in streams, but "Leave the Door Open" is crushing it with 712.7 million listens.
Smoooooooth. "smooth like a newborn!" On top of the fact that both of those dudes have flawless voices, you also have to love the playing going on behind them. "Skate" is also a wonderful groove, as is "777" ("I'm bout to buy Las Vegas after this rolllll!"), and "Smokin Out the Window" makes me giggle when he says her kids are running around his house like Chucky Cheese. I also love that many of these songs have a cheesy ass theme - "Blast Off" gets you some time in space, "777" gets you some gambling action, "Skate" is about roller skating. I mean, all of those are probably actually about sex, but at least they are themed sex. I need for these guys to go on tour so that I can go watch an entire crowd of people erupt into simultaneous, immaculate orgasm at the same time. The issue I have here is just that its too dang short. 31 minutes and 9 songs. Why do I have to get 48 mediocre Drake tracks with every album, but these guys only give us a taste...
Limp Bizkit - STILL SUCKS. Dammit. I know. I should have just ignored that this ever dropped, but there is still a part of me lodged back in 1999, enjoying Bizkit and Incubus and Creed and their ilk. I KNOW THIS MAKES ME A BAD PERSON. I'm sorry. But straight up, some of the best tracks from Significant Other and Chocolate Starfish are freaking great songs. I'm not saying they are on par with "Bridge Over Troubled Water" or "A Day in the Life" or anything, but if you want to jam out and be ridiculous, then screaming about breaking stuff or rollin' feels awesome. Well, this album comes up with a few tracks that make me feel happy again, and then a bunch of garbage. Overall, not a good album at all. Way too much tender slow ballad stuff like they are a serious band. "Goodbye" sounds like it was an N'SYNC song originally - very terrible. The cover of "Don't Change" feels like an obligatory dirge. "Empty Hole" sounds like they stole a bad Soundgarden B-Side from 25 years ago. And there are many skits, and all of them are too long and terrible. BUT! BUT!!! The dumb ass rap-rock crunch vibe of "Out of Style" and "Dirty Rotten Habit" open the album in a way that makes it feel like we're doing this again. "Dad Vibes" is not as good but still made me grin (and no, he is saying "Dad got the sag in the back with a drip" there in the chorus, not a homophobic slur). That track, #3 on the album, wins the streaming battle for now at 10.1 million streams. Here you go!
I mean, its got a funky beat you can dance to, along with some guitar riffs, and a catchy chorus. However, it is a bad song. I am not defending it as an actually good song, but I can just about guarantee that I will be singing it later today. I won't keep this album around after today, but it was fun to adventure back into the world of 1999 all over again.
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