Customer Reviews

Cow Fish Fowl Or Pig

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

That's right, the best album of 2002. Being a fan of all the past Gourds albums I knew I would not be disapointed. But this, this album is packed full of great great songwriting. There is not a bad tune here. In the past I would give a Gourds album 3 1/2 to 4 stars. There might be a few clunkers here and there, but here the guys pull it all together. I have not stopped playing it since the day it first came out. You have everything from The Band sounding "Ham-fisted box of gloves" to the very funny and clever "My name is Jorge". Do yourself a favor and forget about Bruce's new album (3 stars) forget about Pettty's new album (2 1/2 Stars) and even Steve Earls new album (3 stars) and pick up "Cow fish fowl pig" (5 Stars) and have a good time.

Talk about a band paying off! This has all that makes the Gourds great concentrated in one place. A natural progression from where the band started, it just blows the doors off genre and mixes and matches with abandon. The only artist it reminds me of Tom Waits but only in so much the music is really steeped in musicianship and the words comes from some backwoods poetry reading. Kev delivers some suprising tracks with the swing of "Mechanical Bride", the saucy "Ants on A Melon", and the cajun rock of "Bottle & Dime". Jimmy really kicks his surrealistic bucket with the shaggy dog tale of Jorge, the brilliant ramble of "The Bridge", and the Stonesy but not "Ceiling's Leaking". Max is perfecting a sound which while not the same as his fellow songwriters is solid and complimentary. This time they really blend rather than stand away like his songs from the very good Bolsa. I especially like the solid country pop of "Best Of Me" and the canjun shuffle of "Smokey Bend" (which if my guess is right, it's sung by his dad!). Want more highlights? Roll and Tumble, Hellhounds, Blankets...it's just one great song after another! Granted, Sweet Nutty is more amusing to me than anything and, I really didn't need to hear the spiritual guy raps more than once. I think this album is a why The Gourds are far and away from the pack. It leaves me a one big happy wreck! How many albums can you say that about?

To me, it is absolutely amazing that the Gourds made such a perfectly produced album, that sounded so live at the same time without a producer in the studio. With this album as opposed to the others, Max takes a more firm role in the band with his poignant songwriting like in "Blankets". We also see the new directions that songwriters Jimmy Smith and Kevin Russel are taking. Kevin is going for a more rollicking, Texas-Louisiana feel, but experimenting at the same time with a classic rocker like "Sweet Nutty". Jimmy's songs "Hellhounds" and "My name is Jorge" are wonderful rambling stories. While "Bridges" and "Ceiling Leaking" rock more-- they also sway more towards his vague, surreal, cool metaphors. "The Prayer that Fell Upon a Mirror" is exactly that with a dissonant mexican feel that reminds me some of "Coppermine" off of Stadium Blitzer. Kevin also throws in surreal poetry with "Foggy Blossoms, Mechanical Brides", and "Hamfisted Box of Gloves". This album also showcases Claude Bernard's versatile accordion work better than any of their previous albums-- which could be a product of the great production. Overall, I would say-- GET THIS CD! You won't find a more diverse, versatile, cohesive, and fun mix than The Gourds of Austin, TX.

Well, what can I say about this album? This is the Gourds at their most eccentric and eclectic, and that is no small feat based on previous works. I've listened many times just so I could get grasp this whole weird, fun, funny, vibrant and seriously wonderful work. There are a couple very funny interludes on this cd that had me laughing hard. The songs themselves are so varied and unique that it's difficult to describe them related to anything else. They've gotten so skilled at combining different genres that they've forged new kind of uber music. Mix blugrass, zydeco, blues, rock, country swing, Tex-Mex flavors plus some kind of pixie dust that melds them into odd giddy musical contraption that makes you smile.

If you own other Gourds albums, stop reading this and push the "buy" button with confidence. If you do not own anything by The Gourds stop reading this and push the "buy" button with confidence. Go see them live as soon as possible.

Pity the Gourds. Here they are, churning out the best original music being made in America, and few are listening. Commercial radio programmers are just too narrow-minded and too cowardly to recommend this band's music, but the college and Americana stations, the last bastions of free music, offer some hope.

Diatribe aside, it's time you added some Gourds to your CD collection post haste. "Cow, Fish, Fowl, or Pig" continues building on the solid foundation this eclectic Texas band has established. That does not translate into a sure-footed, level foundation because each of the songwriters has his style, and variations within that.

Jimmy Smith and Kevin Russell, as usual, deliver their takes on everything from religion, to passion, to food, to drink, to life bursting at the seams. With the addition of multi-instrumentalist Max Johnston on previous recordings, the band achieved a fuller, richer tone, and his contributions as a songwriter further enhance the many pleasures celebrating rural life here. (Well, to get picky, everybody in the Gourds seems ready, willing, and able to swap one instrument for another.)

It's probably pointless to try a song-by-song run down because there is no way to do justice to what's here. Lifestyles of the rich and famous it is not. Alternately funky, down-home, swing-influenced Americana that is both smooth yet brisk and astringent it is. The lyrics drip with rich poetic images, often tongue-in-cheek, and Jimmy Smith even tries to make a rhyme with "orange," which is, as you know, perhaps the only word in English one cannot rhyme with (I don't care about the preposition at the end of the sentence because I feel so good while I am listening to the Gourds).

I will have to note, however, that the "spiritual raps" which were apparently recorded during some chance meeting on a street corner somewhere---and these are not Gourd's songs---wear thin real fast. Other than that, this recording captures what being in a band is all about and they connect honestly and thoroughly with listeners. Maybe life is a junker, and if so, here is the soundtrack.

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the gourds are one of my all time favorite bands. that said... this is my least favorite cd by them. it's a 4 star release awash in a sea of 5 star efforts. and surprisingly enough... i'd say the songs by the 3rd most prolific sonegwriter in the band,(and alt country legend) max johnston, are the best tunes.
if your new to the band, try picking up stadium blitzer or beeble. also... if you've never seen these guys play live, buy a bottle of jack, drink it, forget all your worries, and go have a great time seeing them play. not just a great band... but great guys too. viva de gourds!

The Gourds are making some of the best original music in America, and too few are listening and commercial radio programmers have their tiny little heads full of visions of payola and loot from promoting the whatever the mega recording companies dictate will be played.

"Cow, Fish, Fowl, or Pig" elevates The Gourds beyond even their musical forerunners, The Band. I prefer any recording of The Gourds to any Recording of the Band, in fact.

Rise up oh legions of Gourdites and smite the dullards who pose as recording industry mavens and constrict creativity and freshness in favor of mass-produced pabulum. Glory be on all things Gourds.

Wow. After a somewhat disappointing Shinebox, the real Gourds are back. No covers or repeats on this album, only all-original Gourds treats. Can someone tell me where in the hell Max Johnston came from? Blankets is one of the best Gourds tunes ever and Smoke Bend is also great. Keep up the amazing song writing Max. Hellhounds is probably my favorite Jimmy Smith song of all time and Ceiling's Leaking is Jimmy's second best track on the disc. Kevin kicks his usual [...] with a sick jam in Ants On The Melon, and Ham-Fisted Box Of Gloves and Roll & Tumble are classics. This is a must-have Gourds album.

The Gourds are a one of a kind gem! Sure, one can make comparisons to The Band, but the Gourds aren't really like any other band I've heard. They have grown to one of my favorite live shows ever since the early days they played the Hole in Wall in Austin.
To me, it is about the instruments and songwriting. I love the instrumentation that has always had a significant presence in their music whether it is Kevin's mando riffs, Claude's consistent accordion, or these days Max's fiddle and banjo. And underneath it all, you'll find great bass work from Jimmy that even occassionally becomes a bass solo.
They take some old country sounds and mix in a bit jugband, stomp, jam, and hollerin to go along with the great songwriting triple threat of Jimmy, Kevin, and Max. Jimmy, the most original, stretches the songwriting to it limits with his rambles, funky storylines, and unique vocal delivery (see "My Name is Jorge", "Hellhounds" and "Sweet Nutty"). Max contributes a few more serious songs such as "Blankets" or "Best of Me" (which sounds just like the chords and vocal melody of "One Hundred Years From Now" from the Byrds' Sweetheart!). Kevin is somewhere in between with either a fun roller like "Roll and Tumble" or a nice ballad like "Ham-Fisted Box of Gloves".
This album is yet another fine example of their ability to capture their live energy and raw sound. They like what they do and it shows through in their music and live show. If you like this album, you won't go wrong with any of their others, such as Dem's good beeble or stadium blitzer which are my favs.

Like I said, I aint got much to say, but this here Gourds albumn is one of the best damn albumns I ever heart. Ever single song is worth listnin to, thyre all good. They all make you move yer feet real good. I say its one of the best I ever done heart. Buy it now cause it wont be round for long. Thats what I say.