I really should read the supporting material that comes with these albums before I make my notes on them, but whatever, we are where we are.
The problem with “Lost At Sea” is simple: it is a wonderful modern country record. And it sounds like The Cadillac Three. I never hide my love for TC3, either.
So anyway, I am reading the stuff I got sent, and there’s this quote: “Most of the new album was recorded in Nashville, working with his producer and collaborator Jaren Johnston, frontman of The Cadillac Three, who is also the songwriter behind a dozen No.1 country hits.” Well, that might explain it, then?
Then it gets worse: “Then I began making trips to Nashville to work with Jaren. He and I have a lot of overlap, in terms of the music we like. We made a guitar-centric record that encapsulates everything I’ve been listening to over the years, from the most country songs I’ve ever recorded to punk rock and even songs that sound like a California version of The Clash.” Says the man himself. This great insight that I had that all of this was like a punk rock TC3 (which it basically is, by the way) might be a bit old hat now, huh?
However, it does need to be said that the opener, “Dead And Gone,” is an absolute cracker. I am a sucker for “southern rock,” have been since I was a kid hearing Georgia Satellites, and it’s impossible not to smile while listening to this – which I accept is awful given the subject matter.
And everywhere this album goes, “Overboard” is almost perfect Americana, albeit with harmonies straight out of the Jeff Lynne playbook. “Black Top Lines” is a little more strident; Black Stone Cherry fans need to get here immediately, right down to the “homemade shine,” this has it all. Arena-ready licks? Hell, yeah.
“Damage Control” changes the vibe. It goes all summery and Laurel Canyon on you – but as if eager to confound, it starts with the thought “I am sick and tired of messing around.” The guitar solo, though, is bang on point.
And so it goes with “Weigh You Down.” It’s a suggestion that the world cannot be all bad, or “Burn The House Down” – such energy, such polish, and modern country gets Grammy’s for less. Plus, you can’t listen to the opening of “Where’d Everybody Go?” without thinking of The Cadillac Three, so don’t. This party ain’t ending – even if any party with someone called “Cocaine Jane” would scare me to death; the Skynyrd-style solo is welcoming.
Johnston knows his Grand Ole Opry too. “I Don’t Trust My Memories Anymore,” a chugging, timeless piece of regretful country, but all country is built on that, right? On one hand, I think I might like to meet “Carrie Midnight Texas Queen” in whatever honky-tonk she’s in (let’s just say that if Shifflet is right, she’s having more fun than me in her “hi-tops and faded jeans”).
“I don’t get invited to parties anymore,” he sings on the last track, but judging by the solo that sounds like the most joyful thing this side of The Hold Steady, he’s not bothered.
Indeed, who needs parties? A load of people you don’t like (and I don’t drink and am the fussiest eater on the planet). What you need instead is music. Brilliant music, luckily “Lost At Sea” has you sorted.
He’d make a great guitarist for one of the world’s biggest rock bands, would Chris Shiflett. One of them should get him… (yes, I know, before you @ me).
Rating: 8.5/10
