James McMurtry “Childish Things” (Compadre 2005)

This is the perfect album for the disenfranchised folk of New Orleans. McMurtry is like wheat beer - cloudy, agricultural, substantial and something of an acquired taste, you might be put off after a few sips but if you get the taste, it’ll stay with you. This isn’t a sparkling translucent brew, the issues aren’t transparent, the music is a thick southern brew that serves as a background for the sermon like prose that he delivers - capitalism is evil, and it robs the ordinary man of his dignity and leaves them as flotsam on a tide of globalisation. The stories are hypnotic, like driving long distances - the thrum of the tyres on the road, the monotonous rhythm of his voice, it’s all much the same, occasionally the lyric will act as a rumble strip. The music is an unchanging rain spattered flat country and offers no relief (actually that’s not quite true, a few shafts of sunlight do burn through - the baritone sax, trombone and fiddle on the opening ‘See the Elephant’ bring some welcome levity). Otherwise it’s the same pace throughout, though the old standard ‘Ole Slew Foot’ shows a welcome flash of humour. It’s not as though you can’t gain any enjoyment from the record - the songs individually would be great on the radio or a compilation and songs like ‘We Can’t Make It Here’ would stand out as gritty realist invective, the downbeat tone and the flat intonation a welcome change. Over the course of a record the sheer weight of it beats you down much like the system that he rails against - perhaps this is an ironic strategy on his part. In a way he’s like a curmudgeonly Status Quo sticking to the same chug and boogie sonic template; in some ways it’s admirable like the discipline of Buddhist monks and similarly if you are not a devotee you can’t quite unpick the reasons why they’d do it in the first place. I’m left perplexed wondering if I’m not getting it or if I’m reacting on some level to the liberal nationalism on display and I’m left with a phrase: in small doses a tonic; in one sitting an overdose.

Date review added:  Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Reviewer:  David Cowling
Reviewers Rating:
Related web link:  www.jamesmcmurty.com