the of mirror eye

* Scud Mountain Boys: Freight Of Fire (5.5 mb) | Television (5.5 mb) | Silo (4.5 mb)
From The Early Year : Sub Pop Records : SPCD389

I remember the first time I heard this album. It was late 1997 and I was at the height of my Americana/Alt-Country appreciation, listening to the likes of Will Oldham, Son Volt and Uncle Tupelo. I think what really drew me those bands were the voices. Their voices were totally raw and “authentic”. The singers didn’t care that their voices were rough and cracking because they were singing about what they believed in.

So, then I hear about the Scud Mountain Boys. They had released their album Massachusetts to great critical acclaim, with their sound being compared to the aforementioned bands. I took a walk to the local record emporium and noticed that they had this double cd set of their first two albums for sale. So I thought that I’d take a chance on them. It sounded like I’d really like them and the album was cheap enough. So I popped the first disc in as I walked home and immediately thought that this is total crap. The group sounded more like a well polished pop band than one of those “authentic” alt-country bands. Sure, there were country elements to the songs, but the vocals were smooth as a baby’s bottom with none of the rawness that I’d come to expect from the genre.

Needless to say, my initial impressions were totally wrong as their songs slowly rooted themselves firmly into my brain. And I finally realized that they weren’t trying to be a typical alt-country band. Instead, they were just trying to write traditional songs their own way.

Though frequently compared to the likes of Palace Music, Wilco, and Son Volt, the Scud Mountain Boys have one up on the competition: they are just as frequently referred to as the “real deal.” These denizens of Massachusetts’s Pioneer Valley are not a “neo-country” band, nor are they indie-rock pretenders; they just write really good, really poignant traditional American songs. There is no historical irony in their music, just great songs and a true commitment to a style of music that many Americans (and certainly a great number of “country” fans) have forgotten.

(from the website)

Unfortunately, the Scud Mountain Boys are no longer, but head honcho Joe Pernice has been in a succession of different bands and has lately been recording and releasing music under the Pernice Brothers banner.

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