Rough Trade
compilations are always a bit hit and miss and this is disappointingly more
miss than hit. The Country title is at best misleading, as this collection is less
country and western and more punk, dark blues and indie folk. Admittedly every
track has a tinge of Country-ness and the whole compilation has a coherence and
logic, but it’s definitely not what I expected.
Imagine a
genre of music that combines Ministry, The Violent Femmes, The Handsome Family,
Michael Stipe, Johnny Cash and Caitlin Rose and you won’t be too far away.
Having said this there’s little to write home about even if you love this new
hybrid genre.
My personal
favourites are the pure Country sounds of Freakwater with ‘South of Cincinati’,
the Pixies soundalike of The Gun Club’s ‘Ghost on the Highway’ and the
straightforward rush of 28th Day with ‘This Train’. Head and
shoulders above everything else however, is the melancholy ballad of ‘Fancy’ by
the Geraldine Fibbers. Where have the Geraldine Fibbers been all my life?
Not a vintage
Rough Trade compilation, but if you love the old Country vibe them I’m certain
there’ll be something here that takes your fancy. Yeeehah!
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