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It’s one finger-pickin’, hard-rockin’, shit-kickin’, dungaree-wearin’, dentist-avoidin’, whisky-drinkin’, rootin’-tootin’, gun-totin’, barn-dance of an album.
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It’s one finger-pickin’, hard-rockin’, shit-kickin’, dungaree-wearin’, dentist-avoidin’, whisky-drinkin’, rootin’-tootin’, gun-totin’, barn-dance of an album.
The title probably tells you enough, but humour me and answer these simple questions:
Do you like the music of AC/DC, Kiss and Motorhead?
§ A) Yes, of course
§ B) I suppose so
§ C) Who?
§ D) No they’re shit
Do you like Bluegrass music?
§ A) It’s great
§ B) It’s alright
§ C) What?
§ D) No it’s shit
If you answered mostly A,B,C or D to the above questions, then you’ll probably like Hayseed Dixie. OK, if you answered with 2 D’s you’ll probably think it’s shit, but I didn’t want to lose 90% of you before you’d got this far. I have to be honest here and say that I fall into the two A’s category.
So there you go, the cat’s out of the bag and the dawg can see the ‘coon. It’s one finger-pickin’, hard-rockin’, shit-kickin’, dungaree-wearin’, dentist-avoidin’, whisky-drinkin’, rootin’-tootin’, gun-totin’, barn-dance of an album.
I heard them in the US a few years back and was instantly taken by the breakneck banjos and rough vocals, all recorded raw and acoustic. They do great, initially unthinkable versions of (mostly) great songs.
Let’s not get carried away, it’s not exactly shaking the world of music to it’s foundations. This is their 4th album and it’s more or less a compilation of the first three, a beginners guide maybe, according to their website they spend their time touring, finding ‘wives’, drinking and drinking and drinking, losing said ‘wives’ and then drinking some more, so maybe that’s why there is nothing particularly new here. But so what? They love what they’re doing, they do it well and it makes me laugh.
I’ve played this record to a few people (a couple of AB’s, a BC and an AD) and they all liked it. A basic knowledge of the songs covered definitely increases the comedy factor, but it’s not essential because the tunes are so well suited to their new hillbilly hats. ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’ is the perfect example. Somebody, somewhere will undoubtedly be under the impression that Queen simply nicked it. The AC/DC tracks are all very comfortable with a fiddle in one hand and a shotgun in the other.
Motorhead’s ‘Ace of Spades’ is great, as is ‘Thing Called Love’ by The Darkness even ‘Centrefold’ by The J. Geils Band reaches a pervy pinnacle that it never reached before. If you don’t like the originals, all is not necessarily lost, but I fear that unless you’re a little bit country, it’s going to be too rough a moonshine to get down your Gregory without a cough and a grimace.
To give them their due they have tinkered with other styles of music, in 2003 their alter-egos Kerosene Brothers brought out ‘Choose Your Own Title*’ which cunningly takes bluegrass tunes and gives them long hair and leather jackets.
The fact that it’s funny is without doubt a mixed blessing. The shelf-life of a joke is shorter than that of a song or piece of music. I have records that I’ve played regularly for more than 20 years but if someone told me the same joke more than a couple of times I’d tell them to fuck off and stop being a lunatic.
If you can appreciate the style, craftsmanship and the sense of fun or if you just like a good, old-fashioned, hoe-down then this is a sound investment. If it just makes you laugh, it’s only going to take up space in your CD rack.
Words : MONO