REVIEW: drivin' n' cryin, drivin' n' cryin (Ichiban)
- Tracey Bleile
The peerless Georgia trio are back in fine form, back with more solid power pop brought to you courtesy of modern-day balladeer Kevn Kinney leading you along with his hook firmly set in your ear. Their past two releases have seen them sketch a wide and uneasy circle in experimentation - from the way-too-heavy (and massively panned) Smoke to the ultra-gentle countrified Wrapped In Sky. The latest eponymous offering finds them squarely where they should be: rededicating themselves to the right to wear a crown of rough-cut diamonds as kings of Americana. Die-hard d'n'c fans will have to be a little patient to get into it - but a few spins paying full attention will soon have it on heavy rotation in your frontal lobe.
The sweet rollicking Athens sound is really this band's strong suit - anyone schoolward bound or ready to take the last road trip of the summer needs to make a home for this one in the car. The harder stuff this time around isn't so, um, metal, this time, and even when they commit the goofball sin of naming a song after themselves, it's a garage grinder that you'll forgive for them in the end. Kinney and company were among the forerunners of 'ringing' or 'chiming' guitars - and they know how to give it an edge that makes you glad they still like to show off that harder side - check out the dismally optimistic "Beneath The Undertow" and its great echoey passages.
One of drivin's fondnesses is the juxtaposing of really hard followed by really soft. If you know their music, you're used to it. New initiates will probably find this release more accessible, in that there's a lot more evenness in the pacing. Tempo shifts are a little more steady, ranging from mid-tempo to almost waltz time. Kinney's had plenty of time and two solo acoustic efforts to hone his storytelling, and he plays out every character from the old man in "I've Got A Message" set against the country jubilee of mandolin and lap steel, to the confusion of young love set to a hammond organ and harmonica crying together in "Around the Long Way". The highest low point always comes anytime a violin has something to say in a might-have-been love song, on "Passing Through", you almost don't realize that you're heart is throbbing with in sympathetic sorrow with the string section.
A welcome jolt into high gear is yet another almighty kiss-off "Paid In Full", which cuts everyone involved just about dead - proving once again that this band's great forte is being one serious ass-kickin' bar band that's always got energy for one last go before the lights come up for the night. If you want an encore, when you drape your arms around all your companions and sing the chorus, then look no farther than "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" with its "American Pie" (or "Straight To Hell" for that matter) feel - one that everyone will know and belt out, even if the rest of the words are lost in the blur of a good time and the reluctance of bringing the evening to an end. As my best friend puts it - they are a band who epitomize the energy of an arena band concentrated at the barroom level.
So as they Ramone their way through the end track "Nothing to Lose", it's clear the carpe diem philosophy set against the solidity of drivin' n' cryin's talent shows them to be ever at the ready for stories to be told, hearts to be won, lessons to be learned, or just to hop in the car and go for a long ride. This disc invites you along for the ride, and you know they genuinely want you there.
The band has a website at www.drivinncryin.com.
