Customer Reviews

Blood of the Ram

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Try as I might to find some substantial criticism of "Blood of the Ram," I just cannot find any withering, fatal flaw to this latest madcap outpouring from these purveyors of what has sometimes been called "beergrass." (The urge to criticize wells up because I'm a Virgo and that's what we do, or so I am told.) The more I hear this latest set, the more I like this collection of odd tales and odd musical arrangements all swirling with an undercurrent of gonzo mysticism.

The Gourds have never shied away from liberally infusing their work with local color and folk wit, and why should they? It's worked magically before and does so here as well. I cannot keep from stomping about during "Lower 48"---which is sometimes a problem when I'm on the highway. This time the fellows even borrow a page from the "magic realism" literary genre Borges popularized with the mysterious escape of the criminal narrator in "Cracklins." And the weird parade of images and ideas conjured up in "Arapaho" are worth revisiting.

Yet in a way, the better the Gourds get, the harder it must be to keep up the informal, odd-ball style that makes the Gourds so good and so distinct. But they do (sort of reminds me of the Pogues progression back in the `80s.)

"Blood of the Ram" also shows that the band is not going to back away from the sometimes disturbing imagery ("a pool of blood on a superhighway") or scatological meandering that is now intertwined in the Gourds mythos. This may be more "music for the unwashed and well-read," as they have declared which might explain why more folks are not listening to some of the best tunes being cranked out by any band these days. (Of course, don't expect to hear this music on the radio!)

OK, one criticism has come to mind. That is, there is only a single song by Max Johnston on this collection. Next time, more from Max, please.

This isn't one of the Gourds best CDs, but it's still good. I am so impressed with this band that I would give every one of their other CDs five stars (except for "Shinebox"). I'm giving "Blood of the Ram" four because it's just not quite as stunning as most of the others. In "Blood of the Ram," I miss Kev Russell's incredible mandolin solos (as in "All the Labor" from "Dem's Good Beeble"). The songs on this CD lack the dark and Dylanesque lyrics that make the Gourds great. ("I saddled me a wounded priest, rode him wet through this August heat." - Lowlands, from "Ghosts of Hallelujah") These guys are talented musicians, but what has made their songs stand out was that they were out of the box - WAY out of the box sometimes. But with this CD, they seem to have at least poked their heads into the box. There are two songs on "Blood" about runnin' from the law, a tired and true worn-out country music cliche. The music is good on those two songs, but the lyrics are just a bit hackneyed. Maybe the Gourds have set the bar too high. I'm a big Gourds fan. I have all their CDs. I've seen them live several times, and I've BSed with them in bars. On every other one of their CDs, there was at least one song that floored me - "All the Labor," "Magnolia," "Layin' Around the House," "El Paso," "Web Before You Walk Into It." I didn't find one of those great songs on "Blood of the Ram."

I love The Gourds and have seen them many time in concert and they are the best. That said, Blood of the Ram is not as good for me as their last few outings, but I still like it. There really aren't many(any?) other bands to compare The Gourds to, except themselves. So, Blood doesn't feel as easy or as generous as Cow Fish Fowl or Pig, which was an embarrassment of riches. I feel that Blood of the Ram needs more Max Johnson tunes(there's only one). Max's tremolo and traditional sound balances the off-kilter Jimmy Smith and down-home drawl of Kevin Russell offerings.

Blood finds the Gourds trying some new sounds that I haven't heard from them, like the soul of Escalade or the Allman sounding guitar of TTT Gas, complete with solo. Another more prominent thing that I heard on this CD that I can live without is the profanity. Personally, it doesn't bother me, but it limits who I can listen with. Jimmy, I'm looking at you :) The electric organ added to Turd in My Pocket adds a kind of odd revival feel to that song. As it is, it is really hard to classify any of the songs as most are a blending af several different styles into something new, with unconventional lyrics laid on top of that. My two favorites are "On Time," and the unusual "Blood of the Ram," which is kind of an old trail-ride sounding song about a ram and slaughtering. It sticks in your brain.

So, to rate the Gourds CDs:
Stadium Blitzer *****
Cow Fish Fowl or Pig *****
Bolsa de Agua *****
Blood of the Ram ****
Ghosts of Halleluja *** (couldn't really get into this one)
Dems good Beeble*** (Didn't listen to this one much, but maybe I should)
Shinebox ? Never managed to get this one

I feel a sense of sublime satisifaction after listening to this cd. The first song is my least favorite. Escalade and Illegal Oyster are excellent and the rest of the songs form a cohesive mix and are a good listen. This cd is right up there with my favorites of '04 right along with Old Crow Medicine Show-O.C.M.S., Mofro-Lochlossa and The Legendardy Shackshakers-Believe. All of them have something so real and elemental about them that you can almost taste dirt. By the by, the Gourds are also a great concert band. You get the feeling they are having a good time...with or without the audience but not in an arrogant way...these guys don't seem to have a smidge of pretension. I picture them jamming together even without the $$ incentive...or hanging out alone at home skanked up reading Neil Gaiman. All in all I think they should be christened the house band for the uni-bonger set.

The gourds have released alot of records so which one is the best?

My kids like it, and i agree.

bd

The Gourds have done it again! If you love Gourds music you can listen to this disc from start to finish.

Although this album is not quite as good as "Cow Fish Fowl or Pig," "Stadium Blitzer" "Dem's Good Beeble" or even "Ghosts of Hallelujah," it still warrants 5 stars. The best three tracks on the album are Lower 48, Cracklins, and Blood Of The Ram. Jimmy's strongest contributions are Illegal Oyster and Spanky. Max's On Time is good, but too bad there isn't more from him. Anyway, if you're a Gourds fan, you gutta get this. If you're new to the Gourds, you may want to get one of the albums mentioned above first.

This continues in the same vein as Cow, Fish, Fowl Or Pig. It's good but not as good as that one. Jimmy's songs are even odder this time out (not necessarily a bad thing). Max's song "On Time" is one of my favorites. Actually in some ways this is also like their earlier cd Bolsa De Agua. On that one, Max's song "Jesus Christ with.." was also a favorite amongst another bunch of quirky songs from Jimmy and catchy genre busting tunes from Kevin Russel. Both these albums open and close the same with an uneven ride in between.

What's most striking about this album by Austin's rambunctious Gourds is its musical solidity, the power of the playing and the catchiness of the tunes. I have taken the Gourds to task before for writing songs that are really just about nothing, but when they open an album sounding so much like Los Lobos, and follow up with rhythm work that's almost as tight as the Meters, it's hard to fault them for a little thing like how dumb their songs are. Clearly, the Gourds are a party band, and maybe it's not for a crabby old fart like me to judge them "yea" or "nay..." Either you're on their wavelength or you aren't; though I still weary of their collective addiction to novelty songs and non sequitors, I can also see how it'd be fun to stomp your feet at one of their shows with a couple of cold ones in ya. This is probably their best album to date, likely to please fans and roots music grinches alike.

The last album (cow, fish, fowl or pig) was so good that it was hard for this album not to seem like a lesser album. However, I did not think so when "Lower 48" kicked in. Nor was it during the soul flecked country of "Escalade". It was during "Wired Old Gal", a Jimmy Smith throwaway track. After this track, the results turned slightly tired. But let me say this was only the first time through. On subsequent listens, tracks like "Right On Time", the sole Max track on the album, and the sly outlaw anthem "Cracklins", jumped out. And I just love the slightly unhinged Jimmy magic of "Turd in My Pocket". I will admit the results here seem to continue to sound divided into two camps, like the previous album, but, to a lesser effect. Still, I like it! But then again I've wiled my time between releases with Kev Russell's Junker (Buttermilk and Rifles) and the sublime Redbury and Slosinger's mini albums (Jimmy's solo work - not available here and very good).This album seems like a half waypoint between these two solo projects with a splash of hillybilly soul thrown in. Like all good groups, The Gourds are open to new ideas but not to the detriment of what actually works and makes them unique. If anything, it is a more insular album. In another words, if you are new to this band's magic, this may not be the best place to start. Try "Stadium Blitzer" or "Bolsa Del Aqua" or perhaps the brief, though representative, "Shinebox". That said The Blood of The Ram is a very good album. Just get one of the above and "Cow, Fish Fowl or Pig" first.