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FILE UNDER: Hyphen rock
Jon Snodgrass - Visitor's BandAlternative Press - Scott Heisel on 7/2/09 @ 7:00 AM - altpress.com
It's been said you can't escape your past. But if your past is awesome, why would you try? That sentiment informs much of the first solo album by Jon Snodgrass of Drag The River and Armchair Martian "fame." Snodgrass' songwriting first found voice in Armchair Martian, as the power-pop/punk band worked the noisy guitars and sharp hooks of fellow Midwesterners Hüsker Dü before slowly letting a more open-sounding country feel invade their songs. This was likely due to Snodgrass' time being split with the alt-country group Drag The River. While Drag The River were largely populated by fellow punks, the sound was distinctly rooted in, um, roots--acoustic and electric guitars, twanging pedal-steel guitar and a bit of drawl as both singers were from Missour-ah.
The backstory--aside from boring the initiated and informing the Snodgrass newcomers--is to put Visitor's Band in perspective. This album doesn't break from Snodgrass' past, which has been alternately wrapped in rock howl and country melancholy. The songs on Visitor's Band do the same; the majority of them are somber and acoustic, but when Snodgrass and his rotating cast of contributors rock, the result is the kind of purgative wail Nirvana channeled from Hüsker Dü.
The two best songs on Visitor's Band bring the Snodgrassian country/rock dichotomy into focus. On "Long Way Found" the "fuck this job" sentiments of ragers like Black Flag's "Clocked In" are delivered with banjo and mandolin backing and country drumming. Commuting as Snodgrass sings, "Just might burn this whole place down," is enough catharsis to prevent most workplace violence. On "Not That Rad" Snodgrass revisits his '80s Midwestern punk roots with rip-your-face off guitar snarl melded to a power-pop take on punk rock. While the majority of Visitor's Band is quiet and contemplative, it's the contrasting moments like these that make the record great.
Additionally, Snodgrass has made himself box set-proof by adding demo and alternate versions of most of the songs as a single track to close the disc. It's not essential, but it is a cool look at how the album versions came to be. With his genre shifts in mind, it also illustrates how the man's strengths are his bourbon-'n'-cigarette soaked voice and his songs, regardless of whatever genre convention sounds and instrumentation bring them to a listener. (SUBURBAN HOME) Rex Reason
GO DOWNLOAD:"Not That Rad"
Official Website: http://www.suburbanhomerecords.com
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thanks for the great review. Everyone, please listen to a full album stream of this record on the suburban home records site.