Country music, in most cases, is something to be avoided at all costs. Puncture your own eardrums if
necessary. No action is too extreme to dodge this most horrendous for of, er, music. Keeping that in
mind, I still happily dole out four stars to this 11-track Hank Williams cover CD by The The without any
reservations.
Williams, the "Father of Country Music," (a crime which I previously thought worthy of the death
penalty) was the original down and out, pick-up truck driving, lonely cause of some no-good woman,
blissfully intoxicated hermit that every C&W artist since claims to be. No one did it better than Hank (case
in point; "There's a tear in my beer, cause I'm crying for you dear;" "These blues have got
me crying', oh sweet mama, please come home;" "All night long I've cried but I can't
get you off my mind.") These were pre-Prozac days, buffered only by the occasion beer or seven. This
boy lived the blues.
Who more appropriate to redo these gems than the always depressed and melancholy Brit-band The
The? Lead vocalist Matt Johnson flawlessly interprets every shade of sadness, from plaintive whimpers
to full-throated screams of abject misery. Backed with a quiet acoustic guitar and the occasional unobtrusive
drum beat, Johnson is the focus and deservedly so. CDs don't often get as moving as this, even
if it is country music. I saw the light.
Reviewer: Sarah LeClaire, courtesy of Flash Magazine.