If you could pick a band name that you knew would get my attention I’m here to tell you, dear reader, that Dirt Road Souls would be close enough.
Like when we were kids and we’d pretty much buy any cassette with that red and white spine, certain things are a mark of quality on the Atlantic label. Dirt Road Souls sounds like one of them. It sounds like denim, barrooms, busted amplifiers and men with stories they have been polishing for years.
And whilst “The Life And Times Of Johnny Moonshine” does not disappoint, it is not quite the rock’n’roll barn burner I had imagined. That, as it turns out, is part of its charm.
Instead, this is something looser, warmer and more interesting. A roots-rock opera, apparently. A concept album, too. More of that later, because I have previous with those things, but first the important question: are the songs any good?
They are. Very much so.
“Johnny Moonshine” opens things with a Stones-infused swagger. Davis Black has just the voice for this: understated, weathered, and sounding less like he is singing at you than pulling up a chair to tell you how it all went wrong. There is a touch of “Exile On Main Street” in the feel, not because Dirt Road Souls are copying anyone, but because they understand that looseness is sometimes where the magic lives.
“Next To You” knows where the party is, but it is happy to get there at its own pace. It will not be rushed. Laid-back, loose and easy in its own skin, it sets the tone for the whole thing, and “Moonshine” keeps that vibe rolling. This is music that knows the value of space. It breathes. It stretches out. It lets the story find its own way.
“Dreams” strikes a mournful note. “Oh Jenny, I got dreams,” goes the opening line, as if the weight of life has already crushed the poor sod before he has even got started. The fact it becomes a duet, with Ava McCabe’s voice adding a different ache, is perfect. Johnny and Jenny are not so much singing to each other as standing on opposite sides of the same disappointment.
Then, all of a sudden, “Bright Light White Heat” breaks out like some 60s rock’n’roller that has kicked the door open. “It’s better in the night,” goes the hook. Let’s not ask what is better in the night. Some things are probably best left between Johnny, Jenny and whatever law enforcement agency happens to be nearby.
“I’m Going Away” is one of those songs that makes you feel as if the record was made 60 years ago and has just been found in some dusty cupboard. That is meant as the highest compliment. Dirt Road Souls are not retro in some empty, costume-box way. They sound like they have internalised this music.
“It’s OK, I’m Alright” is almost perfect Americana. The acoustic solo is incredible, and you can imagine this being played around a campfire while everyone pretends Johnny is fine. No one actually believes he is not thinking about her, though. We’ve all been there, mate. You’re fooling no one.
“Jenny’s Theme” is oddly disconcerting, a little instrumental pause that says plenty without anyone needing to spell it out. “Wanderin’” follows, and more than anything these songs are superbly done. The harmonies here, for example, are not showy. They just lift the thing exactly when it needs lifting.
There is a subtlety to all this too. Even when “Whiskey Bottle Blues” offers the line “I know my demons by their first name,” it never sounds like debauchery for the sake of it. There is sadness here, but not self-pity. There is regret, but not wallowing.
“Hold On Soul” might be the key to the whole record. “Hope’s not gone,” Black sings, as if he is trying to convince himself more than anyone else. That is where “The Life And Times Of Johnny Moonshine” works best: in the gap between myth and reality, between the stories men tell in bars and the truth they do not quite want to face.
It ends with “Johnny Goodbye,” the longest track here, and the right one to close it. It reflects warmly and fondly on Johnny’s life, but not blindly. There is affection, sure, but there is also the sense that potential is a dangerous thing if you never quite know what to do with it.
I have always had a problem with concept albums. The concept is often waiting to mean more to the band than it does to anyone else. Frankly, whenever I am presented with one, my entire thought is: yes, I am sure this is fascinating, mate, but are the songs any good? I once said something similar in a Coheed And Cambria review, and it went viral. It is still the second most viewed review I have ever done on the website.
So I am staying neutral when it comes to the concept of “The Life And Times Of Johnny Moonshine”. Johnny is a fictional character, but he exists in every bar in America, every borough in England, every place in the world where you can find someone ready to tell you they should have been a contender, that they nearly made it, that they were always one step ahead of the law, like some mythical Dukes Of Hazzard figure with a broken heart and a few stories too many.
On this occasion, though, Dirt Road Souls weave those stories into something quite magical.
Rating: 9/10
