(Click picture for complete series album listing, and sample tracks)
After the pure rock power of Teenage Bottlerocket and The Ergs, I certainly could use a new record to calm me down, and Drag the River's UTI is the perfect fit for this desire, and I really love what they did with their record. I'm really now kicking myself for taking a pass on this band purely for the reason that J.J. Nobody (of one of my most-hated bands, The Nobodys, more on them coming soon) is a member. I guess it's my fault for missing out on the band for such a silly reason, but the possibility of J.J. picking up where The Nobodys left off by forming a misogynist folk rock band was really enough to have kept me away. Well, now I like Drag the River, and my life is better for it.
Drag the River gets their own album instead of a split, and they opted to cover "Havin' a Party" and "I Know", by Sam Cooke and Jeff Black respectively, and let me say that I've heard a million Sam Cooke covers, but none of them have been have as good as Drag's. I'm not very familiar with Jeff Black, but that doesn't keep the cover from being awesome. Instead of falling back on traditional country and folk like many bands today, Drag the River has a unique mid-western style of country, more suited for camping under the stars than crooning in a honkey-tonk or coffee shop. Their cover of "Havin' a Party" is the both the best indicator of their style, and the more accessible of the two tracks. It starts from a soft croon from a deep bass vocalist (I know the vocalists are Chad Price and Jon Snodgrass, it's just not apparent who is which singer), and picks up speed about halfway through, eventually becoming a duet. The vocal tracks are outstanding. Both vocalists have great voices, both giving talented and soulful performances. The two singers have enough difference in pitch to create some beautiful harmonies without having to belt out or yell just to impress anybody. It's a fun and calm track, and I'm putting it on a playlist for my next small, friendly party.
The second track, "I Know" is my favorite of the two. The tremendous vocal work of "Havin' a Party" is almost blown out of the water in this track. While the first track was more of a showcase for the deeper, throatier sounds of the first vocalist, "I Know" features the higher-voiced of the two, and man can this guy sing like hell. You know how people with good voices and a low-key music style like jazz or country love showing off by singing lightly at first, and then just yelling and belting for the rest of the record? It's always come off as a bit annoying and disengenuous to me- it's grating and usually tries to hide a lack of true emotional appeal to the song. This track is different from those types of talented vocalists. The singer here has a great voice both when subdued and in the few instances when he does become emotionally invested enough in the song to belt out. These high-volume moments aren't really expected, and when played on a good sound system, the few seconds where these moments of excellence so happen sometimes make my hair stand up on end.
Musically, it's a bit formulaic. The instrumentals are mainly limited to a primary acoustic, and secondary electric guitar, with a little bit of bass in the first song. You've heard the guitar and bass parts in a million other country songs, but they're all played well enough to forgive it, in the sense that the music is familiar, but of high quality that it really shouldn't be a bother, especially given the fact that country/blues is a style built upon pretty strict musical rules.
Overall, the tracks are both of amazingly high quality. The music and vocals exhibit a soul and power that are head-and-shoulders above the myriad of crappy Sam Cooke covers, and serve as a great tribute to the late blues singer. I could really recommend this album to anyone who even remotely likes country, western, or folk music. It could be your parents, grandparents, friends, teachers, whatever. I love it.
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