Bruce Springsteen Forum

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After spearheading the alternative country movement with his band Uncle Tupelo, Jay Farrar pursued his vision with Son Volt, who recorded three landmark albums in the '90s before the groundbreaking artist put the band on extended hiatus and cut three solo records. Now back with his third Son Volt album of the decade, Jay Farrar has delivered what may be his finest work yet, American Central Dust. The new album exhilaratingly carries on the tradition of the Byrds, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Little Feat circa Sailin' Shoes, the Rolling Stones of Exile on Main Street and early R.E.M., with standouts like the exceptional "Down to the Wire," "Dynamite" and "No Turning Back." An epic lament for the heartland, American Central Dust is populated with readily recognizable characters, the most hopeful of them searching for love against a backdrop of rusted road signs and abandoned factories. Rarely does a musical work so powerfully capture the zeitgeist of its historical moment while also honoring the traditions of rock & roll with such rawboned grace.

With the latest release from Son Volt, American Central Dust, I’m reminded why frontman Jay Farrar split with Wilco lead Jeff Tweedy over creative difference in Uncle Tupelo. While Wilco continues to explore new musical directions, sometimes to good affect and sometimes not so much, Son Volt hews closer to the original vision circa 1990. I’d have to say the strongest point to this new effort is just that: it harkens back to the early style of alt country instead of the more indie-influenced sound you often hear today.

One of the best examples of that is Dust of Daylight, a country waltz full of whining pedal steel and dance hall fiddle. Yet it retains an edge that’s at odds with traditional country music. With verses like “love is a fog and you stumble every step you take”, it captures the tears and woe of Hank or George or Porter, but in a more current way. There are some misses, though. In Pushed Too Far the “conversations turn to metaphors” and the lyrics slump to navel gazing that a well-timed stretch of the strings can’t resuscitate.

There are also a couple of more rock-tinged songs on the disc. My favorite is Down to the Wire, where the interplay between guitar and keyboard remind you of Richards and Wood in the heyday of the Stones. Speaking of Keith, you have to chuckle at Cocaine and Ashes, a pleasant little funeral dirge ditty inspired by the tale of, well, cocaine and his father’s ashes.

I was also enjoyed Sultana, the story of a riverboat tragedy shortly after the Civil War. It owes a lot of its story-telling style to Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, but instead substitutes a piece of history more familiar to a boy from St. Louis.

American Central Dust is a solid effort, with some flashy nods to 60’s and 70’s country music. But the uneveness makes it a better candidate for downloading your favorite individual tunes over listening cover to cover.
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