Massachusetts [Vinyl]

Scud Mountain Boys | Format: Vinyl

Product Details

• Vinyl (April 9, 1996)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sub Pop
• ASIN: B0000035HR
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,531,384 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Massachusetts Barters for A Windswept Soul, September 3, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Massachusetts (Audio CD)

Having spent two wintry years in Massachusetts I was naturally intrigued by the Scud Mountain Boys album with the same title. That title brought visions of cold, dry farmland, up-country, flannel shirts and wool sweaters, Camel Lights, and having your residence buried under snow a third of the year.

Fortunately, I like that, and Massachusetts does not disappoint by bringing to aural fruition the frosty visages of lost friends, drunk on lost days and nights, gone never to return.

Massachusetts as a whole is hypnotically melodic, and seductively soft. There is no malice in songs like "Drunk" or "Liquor Store" only intense feeling. "Penthouse in the Woods" is equally demure and enchanting, while "In A Ditch" is, well, breathtaking.

There are small reminders here of bands like Red House Painters, Dumptruck, American Music Club as well as "No Depression" bands like Uncle Tupelo, and especially Son Volt. However, they are not one bit derivative. Their sound is most definitely their own.

It is with no regret that I listen to the minor chords, and the somber steel guitar of Massachusetts, and am transported to a world always on the cusp of a snowfall.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Underrated and Overlooked, January 17, 2002

By 

G. A. Piva (Peabody, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Massachusetts (Audio CD)

It's funny how the best albums are the ones you just stumble upon. I discovered Massachusetts just by reading an article on Joe Pernice. I took a chance on the album from the state i'm from and i'm glad i did. Be forwarned: This is not the type of record you put on in the car and bob your head to. This is an introspective record. This is a sit along at home and contemplate life record. Very quiet, beautiful melodies and harmonies combine to make some of the best melencoly music certianly of 1996 and probably of the 1990's alltogether. And the best part of it is it can be yours alone. So few people know of Scud Mountain Boys and this will defentely never be mainstream, you can have this record all for you own when you decide to sit home some night and "contemplate life".

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Take once monthly with a six pack, November 21, 2000

By 

"hangoverfive" (Eugene, Oregon United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Massachusetts (Audio CD)

This is really melancholic stuff. Don't expect to pop this into the CD player in your car and be entertained. If you play it alone in your house, however, while enjoying the alcoholic beverage of your choice, you may be able to find its groove, and a deep groove it is.

The album is largely about our failures, and the failures of those we rely upon or love. Unlike the typical youthful alternative band of today, however, the Scud Mountain Boys do not focus on the anger that most of us feel immediately after we have failed, or someone has failed us. Rather, the place in which the Scud Mountain Boys live in Massachusetts is the place in which we find ourselves when the anger has passed. It is in this place where we struggle to understand the failures in our lives, and realize, after copious contemplation, that no understanding can be found.

The characters in most of the songs seem to have a quiet resignation, content to sadly reflect on their memories, or to try to banish them with alcohol. In their best moments, the song's characters aspire to learn from the past, or to find resolution in their relationships, for better or for worse.

The perfect vehicle for these sentiments is the acoustic, country-flavored sound favored by many bands today. Its a familiar and well-worn formula, but when the execution is right, as it is in Massachusetts, its hard to argue with. Don't, however, expect the four on the floor beat that often elevates the songs of bands like Son Volt or Wilco. The Scud Mountain Boys hold themselves almost exclusively to a quieter sound. If you find yourself it a reflective mood, however, this album will give you a wonderful soundtrack to your thoughts.