Customer Reviews

Just Us Kids

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

McMurtry's built a sizeable resume since his 1989 John Mellancamp-produced debut and his 1991 collaboration with Mellencamp, John Prine, Joe Ely and Dwight Yoakam. The influences of that latter work still reverberates through his music, with Mellencamp's heartland rock, Prine's writerly words and Ely's maverick stance all providing input. Unlike those three, however, McMurtry often sings in a dry, near-monotone style that crosses the tuneful tunelessness of Dylan or Lou Reed with the wry asides of Ben Vaughn. His flat delivery seems at first like it would wear thin at album length, but his songs compel you forward, his band hits some exceptional grooves, and in the end, his singing and lyrical voices are closely aligned. McMurtry confronts current political issues with the sort of disgust that is surprisingly rare in contemporary music. The heavy blues "God Bless America" casts an eye on America's warrior-junkie pursuit of fossil fuels and the corporate soldiers taking point, and "Cheney's Toy" lays out the broad-scale and intimate impacts of the Iraq war. His measured vocals work perfectly here, keeping the bitter emotions at a steady, contemptuous simmer. Isolation pervades both "Hurricane Party" and "Fireline Road," the former allegorically tying to a storm's aftermath, the latter starkly spoken in its story of abuse. John Dee Graham plays a haunting guitar solo on the latter, Ian McLagan adds a terrific piano solo to "Freeway View," and Pat MacDonald blows blue harp for the harrowing homicide of "The Governor." McMurtry's a passionate man who ably expresses strong opinions with lyrical dexterity. He's effective with a limited vocal range, making up in tone and dynamics (and characters, stories and well-crafted phrases) what he lacks in notes. [©2008 hyperbolium dot com]

I have no idea why some reviewers complain about the political content of some of James McMurtry's songs. He's been delivering rhetorical body blows ever since his first album and he surely sees no reason to stop now. So if you are a conservative like myself who enjoys McMurtry's music, you learn to laugh along with his well-honed and well-aimed jabs at those who have surely earned them. Sure he's a leftie, but how many good right-wing singer/songwriters can you think of?
Just Us Kids finds McMurtry delivering another flurry of blows against the empire, but it also finds him releasing another album of mostly thoughtful and well-crafted songs. Bayou Tortous is the best rocker, the caustic God Bless America the best polemic, and the creepy Fire Line Road, evocative of the style of Dave Alvin, is the best story. Some criticize him for singing of people living on the margins, but that is where some of the most compelling stories are found.
With Just Us Kids you get just over an hour's worth of music you'll want to hear again and again. The CD comes with a booklet containing the lyrics which unfortunately is crammed tightly inside the rather flimsy cardboard casing. Be careful when removing! Some ask why McMurtry isn't more famous. Well, if he keeps releasing CDs of this quality, his time is coming soon.

"Just Us Kids" is a great sounding album. The guitar grooves are toe-tapping on the electric songs and compelling on the accoustic ones. Really good stuff. In fact, it might be my favorite sounding album yet.

The reason why I hesitate to give it 5 stars, though, is the political songs on the album. As far as modern day political ballads go, they're pretty good - but that ain't exactly saying much (see Eddie Vedder's drivel on an otherwise outstanding soundtrack for "Into the Wild").

It's not his opinions that bother me (to each his own), it's the overtness of them that I don't like. I think McMurtry is at his best when his songs are more metaphoric, when he creates characters and stories that carry deeper meanings below the surface. For example, "Hurricane Party" (great song!) and "Just us Kids" do this very well, while his political songs ("Cheney's Toy" and "Ruins of the Realm") abandon subtlety in order to score way-too-obvious political points.

If he wants to make his anti-Bush and anti-corporation points, I'd like to see them couched in more timeless or symbolic terms - like Bob Dylan's "The Times, They are a Changin';" i.e. make the song be anti-Bush without ever mentioning his name. That way, it's not just anti-Bush but anti-anyone-who's-like-Bush. Plus, his message isn't just relevant for 2008 listeners but for 2028 listeners as well.

That being said, this is a great album and I've really enjoyed listening to it.

The man's a genius, what can I say--he's got Dad (Larry McMurtry's) flair for words and his music mentors (Bruce Hornsby and John Cougar Mellencamp's) skill at putting together a killer song.

And no one would tell him to shut up and sing--because James doesn't pull punches about what he thinks. He'll belt out what he thinks in his road-worn Texas twang. No label's telling him what to do--"Just us Kids" is McMurtry's own production.

As a kid from the 60's, I like protest songs of all kinds, but McMurtry's given up his more subtle hammer and chisel for a power tool here, for example in "God Bless America (Pat mAcdonald must die" takes Timbuk3's two hit wonder, "National Holiday" quite a few steps further:

Gonna turn up the heat 'til it comes to a boil
Then we'll go get that Arab oil
We'll suck it all up through the barrel of a gun
Everyday's the end of days for some

The song sounds good, but will it stand the test of time?

If you want to hear something that's a bit deeper and still has strong take-no-prisoners lyrics, listen to "Fire Line Road," which details the story of how an abused child copes, distancing herself from her real life hoping it's all a reality show and "they can go home in a week or so".

"Ruby and Carlos" is also another standout, talking about a May-December romance between a man who packed up his dreams and drums leaving his woman out on the farm. The story-song parallels their lives as they go through wars, aging, alcoholism, etc.

"Fire Line Road," "Ruby and Carlos", "Just us Kids" and "Hurricane Party" make this collection merit 5 stars and those are the songs you should listen to if you love McMurtry's more timeless and elegant lyrics.

Rebecca Kyle, May 2008

I have been listening to James McMurtry since way back when the track Painting By Numbers from his first CD Too Long In The Wasteland was released on KGSR 107.1 in Austin, Texas. I couldn't figure out who the artist was for the longest time. Then, I was working for some folks cleaning houses to make money for college - they happened to have Too Long In The Wasteland and Candyland as well. Every week when I cleaned their house, I'd listen to those 2 CD's over and over and I fell in love with the music.

I've been a fan since I knew James McMurtry existed and I think Just Us Kids is a fantastic compilation of his achievements. His heartbreaking lyrics, his political lyrics, cleaning up his musical style- this album has the best of all of it.

My favorite songs so far on this CD are the title track - Just Us Kids, an indian summer kind of mentality for growing old. I also love Ruby and Carlos. Just a good story. Also, on Bayou Torous, he does a fantastic job of fleshing out the guitar work from Sixty Acres.

There isn't another musician whose music I've followed this faithfully from the beginning and I always feel so blessed when these guys release another new CD.

I've been listening to James McMurtry since he started recording. This is his best album yet. I've listened to it almost constantly since I bought it a week ago. He writes lyrics suited to his flat vocal style, and music that takes advantage of his guitar style. I was only disappointed by one song on the album (Freeway View just does nothing for me). His ballads are written like short stories, and "Ruby and Carlos" and "Fire Line Road" are his best yet. If they don't bring tears to your eyes the first time you really listen to the lyrics you don't have a heart. His upbeat/rocking songs are angrier than he's been in the past. I'm pretty sure (to misquote Nanci Griffith another of my favorites) that James and I cancel each other out when we go to the polls here in Texas, but "Cheney's Toy" and "Ruins of the Realm" are catchy tunes, and the lyrics are clever. The best song on the album is the title track, the group of friends that never quite grow up until they find "their long hair turning grey, not so skinny, maybe not so free, not quite as many as we used to be". That tune was enough to make me pick up the phone and catch up with some college buddies I haven't talked to in fifteen years.

If you fall on the left side of the political spectrum run out and get this now. If, like me, you tend to lean to the right but you can put politics aside to listen to some of the best contemporary folk music out there today, run out and get this now.

McMurtry one of the best singer/songwriters recording now and god knows there are a lot of great ones that come out of Texas. He can rock with the best and take a hit at some lame politicians at the same time. He is one of the few that isn't afraid to be political in his art. But it's not always the government that pisses him off, he tells stories about people in many walks of life and what life has brought them. This is just another fine piece of music from someone who already has a stable full of great music. I am waiting for a DVD-Live in '03 would do.

I'm not familiar with James McMurtry's music and this is the only album of his that I have. I recently bought 'Snake Farm' by Ray Wylie Hubbard, and I came across JM as I was browsing the Amazon site (although this particular album wasn't featured at that time) - and I'm very glad that I did. There's not a great deal that I can add to what other favourable reviews already say, so I will keep my review fairly short (for a change).

Although not a powerful singer, JM's vocals are fluent and his dry, laconic delivery is well suited to this type of music (edgy country blues) - in fact, there are some subtleties in his phrasing and timing that I enjoyed very much. His lyrics are some of the most potent that I've ever heard - JM 'pulls no punches'. Some of his songs deal with the all too familiar theme of fallout from political adventurism and corruption. Others are social commentaries about ordinary people living on the edge in smalltown America - people with only dreams or memories to help ease the feeling of desolation in their lives; whilst 'Fire Line Road' is a disturbing song about incestuous sexual abuse.

Most of the songs are slow to medium tempo, but 'Bayou Tortous' and 'Freeway View' are straight ahead rockers; there is one instrumental also - 'Brief Intermission'. The playing is first class - you can't fault the musicianship; there are some notable short solos : piercing electric lead guitar on 'Bayou Tortous' (James McMurtry), and searing Lap Steel on 'Fire Line Road' (Jon Dee Graham); also, some full-on boogie-woogie piano on 'Freeway View' courtesy of Ian McLagan (of the Small Faces).

With so many good songs (all penned by JM), it's difficult to choose any favourites - but if I had to, it would be these : 'Just Us Kids', 'Cheney's Toy', 'Hurricane Party', 'Ruby and Carlos', 'Fire Line Road' and 'Ruins of the Realm'.

I thought this was an album with some great edgy music and exceptionally fine lyrics; but if you are looking for 'sweetness and light', then don't come here. If JM's earlier albums are as good as this, I think I'll be buying these too; 4.5 stars.

I am a big fan of McMurtry's songs, be they political, or just human stories put to music. I especially like the song "Just Us Kids" - wry, funny, and poignant. "Cheney's Toy" really gets to the point. I like McMurtry's straightforward lyrics and world-weary tone throughout this record. I can't imagine these songs being so powerful if sung by anyone else. This album is just a notch below "Childish Things" which is one of his best, but damn, it's good.

We are fans of James McMurtry and feel this is one of his best. Topical lyrics, great backing band, biting commentary, and all-out rockin!
Would highly recommend.