Old Crow Medicine Show

Which doesn’t mean the record is bad: I’ll be the first to admit that Old Crow is one of my favorite bands and O.C.M.S. in particular is one of my favorite albums of this new millennium, so perhaps I’m being too hard on them.  Even when Big Iron World dropped, which itself was solid top to bottom with flashes of brilliance like “My Good Gal” and “James River Blues,” I was still less than enthused, mainly because I suffer from a strong resistance to the new coupled with a strict loyalty to what I dub an artist’s pinnacle achievement, which, in this case, is O.C.M.S.

But that’s also why I like Old Crow so much: their hardheaded instrumentation, folk tales of moonshiners and riverboat gamblers and wailing, yawping vocals that sound ripped from a Jimmie Rodgers record is a bold affront to a music industry that revels in overproduction and sample demographics.  Old Crow’s ideal demographic listens to AM and would shoot you if asked how the record made them feel.

For Tennessee Pusher, Nettwerk Records called in famed producer Don Was, who worked with Dylan and the Stones (among other greats), and has several Grammys and other independent awards that testify to his sterling reputation.  The fault of the album, though, is not that a famous producer came in and tried to rework Old Crow’s sound, though. Quite the contrary: it seems as if Was really allowed them to do what they wanted.  The pitfalls lie in several of the songs that tend to lose either the alternating jaunty cleverness or poetic sincerity that characterizes their best work.  “Alabama High Test,” the album opener, is a good song in the vein of their superb jugband covers like “Tell It To Me” or “Cocaine Habit,” and “Next Go ‘Round” touches on their country sentimentality like the aforementioned “My Good Gal” or “Trials & Troubles.”

In between these and other strong tunes, however, they fail to maintain a high level of craftsmanship.  “Humdinger,” for example, was clearly intended to provide some fast-paced, lackadaisical relief, but falls short in light of the poor phrasing and thin political jabs.  “Hotel in Memphis,” too, begins with a flourish of dark fiddle and organ and holds amazing potential, but comes off as flat and uninteresting, particularly in light of the grave subject matter (the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King); it’s not a bad song, but it could have been great, and the shortfall lends itself to distaste rather than allowance.

Overall: B

Even in light of its shortcomings, Tennessee Pusher is a good album by a great band and I enjoy listening to it.  I enjoy it even more, though, when I cut 3 or 4 tracks out.

Artist Name: Old Crow Medicine Show Album Name: Tennessee Pusher Website: http://www.crowmedicine.com/ Record Label: Nettwerk Release Date: 09.23.2008

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