Indie Round-Up for November 17 2005 - Page 2

That young man got his life turned upside-down
Turned his smile into a frown
Robbed that king of his crown
For an ideal he didn't even know about.

Steve Earle's "Copperhead Road" ("I learned a thing or two from ol’ Charlie don’t you know") was on one of my self-burned road-trip compilation CDs I still can't help calling "mix tapes."

And so it went.

Johnny Cash, now - he wasn't in the car with us at that moment. But I just saw the new Cash biopic Walk The Line, and his "What Is Truth" comes to mind:

A young man of seventeen in Sunday school
Is being taught the golden rule
By the time another year's gone around
It may be his turn to lay his own life down!

Yep, seems you can hardly listen to more than a few minutes of American music without running into ol' Charlie. Doesn't seem to matter much if the person who wrote the song was even born at the time of that particular little conflict, either. Songwriters, unlike some soldiers, grow old and die, tapping into something eternal along the way. But war never dies.

Star Date: The Next Friday
But enough levity. Butt-kickin' blues-rock is alive and well in Texas. Lookin' for Texas, Brother 2 Brother's stew of blues, rock and soul goes down warm and sweet. It's a studio recording with a live feel: this Houston outfit is not slick - in fact, they're not always even very tight - but they're good musicians who sound like they love playing together, which is more important. Clever, well-crafted songs complete the picture. "I Don't Care" recalls Georgia Satellites via Jerry Lee Lewis, while "Fool Boy's Road" suggests Jim Morrison and the Doors. You'll hear some Fabulous Thunderbirds, a little Lynyrd Skynyrd, more than a pinch of soul from the excellent horn section, and plenty of Chicago blues in these eight songs; there's even a shiver of the bayou in the accordian-led "Toobin'." Altogether a wide variety of styles, served up with heart and a generous helping of fun. Brother 2 Brother is not literally a band of brothers, but their camaraderie shows in the music.

Wait a minute... "Band of Brothers"... John Kerry... Vietnam... Aughhhhhhhh!!!

Available at CD Baby.

Article Author: Jon Sobel

Jon Sobel is Co-Executive Editor of Blogcritics. As a writer he contributes most often to the Culture section, where he often reviews NYC theater; he also writes a semi-regular review round-up of independent music releases. …

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