Matthew Grimm And The Red Smear "Dawn's Early Apocalypse" (Independent 2006)

A voice of dissent from the mean streets of, er, Iowa.

Matthew Grimm was formerly the leader of New York’s Hangdogs, but has scuttled out of the Big Apple to darkest Iowa for the making of this record, his first since the dissolution of the band. It’s generally in the territory of a hard drinking, foul mouthed (check out track 10 with caution!), angry ex punker playing country rock. Some production and playing duties are handled by Pete Anderson, best known for his association with Dwight Yoakam, a further clue to the direction of the record. It’s also fair to say Matthew Grimm is less than happy with the current US administration, and considers himself something of a thorn in the side of all things Dubya, the press release even claims the band’s phone calls and e-mails are monitored by government bodies, the album artwork reflects this ‘danger to national security’ position with a prominent ‘Quarantined Material’ stamp. In addition the band website has a highly amusing ‘hate mail’ section! After that lead in, the music sounds a little less threatening than you might expect, Grimm’s voice is reminiscent of a rawer Michael Stipe, and some of the backing calls to mind REM too, particularly on ‘Armies Of The Lost’. The styles range from such southern jangly rock, to folky Dylan/Guthrie protest singer, to out and out stompers, so if that sounds like a description of a less twangy Steve Earle, that’s about right. Overall it’s an enjoyable and mostly uptempo romp well played by a bunch of old stagers who know their way around.

Date review added:  Thursday, February 01, 2007
Reviewer:  Patrick Wilkins
Reviewers Rating:
Related web link:  www.redsmear.com