Son Volt – Union
Transmit Sound/Thirty Tigers – 29 March 2019
Son Volt are not the kind of band who will use reaching a quarter of a century as an excuse to nostalgically re-tread former glories, this is and always has been a project driven by original song-writing in the Americana tradition. New album ‘Union’ may well come to sit in their back catalogue as the third part of a trilogy. In 2013 they released ‘Honky Tonk’, a record in which the band shed every last trace of ‘alt’ from their country palate by utilising the sweet peddle steel and fiddle sound of old western music harking back to the first half of the 20th century. It was a warmly received detour followed up four years later with ‘Notes Of Blue’. As signposted by the title, that set endeavoured to shower itself in the dust and dirt of America’s rural blues music. It maybe wasn’t quite as quick and accurate on the draw as the country album, but neither did it fire blanks. And so, if this trajectory really is playing out in a three, the next watering hole is American folk music.
“I was raised on folk music,” says Son Volt main man Jay Farrar. “Politics is a common thread there. In a time where we see threats to our way of life, and our democracy, from within, you say: What can I do? I put pen to paper and write music”. And that’s what he’s always done too. His original band Uncle Tupelo were an American revelation in the early nineties, showing potential to address the unfinished business in modern country left behind by Gram Parsons and the Flying Burrito Brothers. But creative differences between Farrar and co-founder Jeff Tweedy broke that band and almost from the outset Son Volt had to evolve in the shadow of Tweedy’s Uncle Tupelo offshoot, Wilco. Nevertheless, if Jay Farrar has ever put much value in commercial success, he’s certainly never shown it. He was always a Lou Reed to his former bandmates John Cale; where Jeff has sonic innovation and a flexible musicality in his armour, Jay has consistently been a devotee of the traditional song form and an honest, finely crafted lyric. That’s probably why Wilco have always felt like a band that most effectively shines when all its players are on their game, while Son Volt have presented themselves as a vehicle for one man and his songs. When their debut album landed in 1995, the combination of authentic roots rock and a set of deep cut material drew praise and marked a path that was doggedly followed from there on in.
However, ‘Union’ brings with it a subtle yet significant change. Farrar describes a “sense of purpose” arriving as the band found a natural telepathy when playing together on the back of the ‘Notes Of Blue’ record. The chemistry between recent regulars Mark Spencer and Andrew DuPlantis alongside a recalled Chris Frame and new boy Mark Patterson is vibrant and lends the whole set a refreshing sense of unity. ‘Devil May Care’ is as Springsteen-like as Farrar as ever sounded and I bring that name to the table in an entirely positive way. The infectiously strummed verses are caressed with honeyed organ and a rather catchy chorus brings sweet release. The rapport that brought such uplifting elements to the album was a late change in direction. The intention from the outset had been to make a more politically focused set. Farrar’s acoustic guitar was to be put right up front in the mix and lyrical agendas would inspire proactivity in the listener. But by his own admission the singer caught himself thinking “wait a minute, music is supposed to make you throw your burdens to the wind”. So it is that the finished collection of songs has both light and serious content; the contrast results in one of Son Volt’s most satisfyingly varied sets. That said, it’s still the topical broadsides that define the album.
The protest folk movement of the 20th century had its own Broadside Magazine, a tome that published and helped to bring into circulation hot-off-the-press topical ballads and poetic polemics. Many of the biggest names fed into this tradition, including Bob Dylan who famously submitted his own unique song contributions to the form using the name Blind Boy Grunt. Son Volt pay homage to this on the see-sawing ballad ‘Broadsides’, singing that “Broadsides will be hurled to capture the truth”. Jay Farrar is having a fair old swing at uncovering some truths here. He has cast a despairing look at the divided state of his country, at the destructive forces causing that division and felt moved to put together a musical work that looks for answers to the question, “what can we do to bring our society back together?”
The more I play it the more I feel that this is the most musically rewarding album Son Volt have ever delivered. The way Jay carries a high southern drawl throughout the melodic shapes of ‘The 99’ reminds me of those early R.E.M. albums when they got their teeth into folk-rock classicism. That high bar comparison isn’t flattering, it’s exactly the treatment these songs demand and Son Volt realise their ambition. When you’re delivering a message through music you want people to sit up and take notice, and these songs are so immediate you can’t help but be instantly hooked. The vibe that dominates this record is a driving acoustic rhythm in parallel with eminently sing-able wordplay. The picture is coloured by a variety of electric guitar lightning strikes, shades of cool organ and a backdrop of adept drumming.
Polemic song-writing does tend to have a recognisable form. Echoes of Neil Young, Steve Earle and the aforementioned Springsteen and R.E.M. do ring out loud. Music with topical, political content is rarely concerned with innovation and always focused on getting its point across. That those comparisons are fair and relevant proves that this band haven’t over-reached; they have made music that can settle comfortably alongside the most relevant, modern-day socially conscious sounds. You sense that they knew it too; in a sincere nod to one of the gods of topical song they even recorded four tracks at the Woody Guthrie Centre in Tulsa, Oklahoma. For me, ‘Union’ is the album where this incarnation of Son Volt have finally found their true voice and most authentic sound.
Order Union here https://ffm.to/union
Photo credit: David McClister