Not feeling particularly webby today, so screw it, I’m reviewing David Lowery’s new album The Palace Guards instead.
I have been a fan of Lowery’s work since a friend passed me a copy of Cracker’s self titled debut. He gave me the CD because he didn’t like the album enough to move it to Germany with him (this was pre iPod). Not exactly a ringing endorsement, but hey, one man’s trash is another… Anyway, the founder / leader of both Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker has finally stepped out and released an album under his own name, which I found a demo copy of for sale at a discount book store in Chicago a week before its official release. Again, not exactly a ringing endorsement, but…
It is definitely worth more than I paid for it. While it shares some DNA with Lowery’s other work, like Patterson Hood’s (Drive-By Truckers) solo efforts, there is no mistaking who is singing, Lowery has toned down his trademark sarcastic absurdism a bit, and gone for a delivery that is both a bit more direct and a bit more biting. The Palace Guards touches all on the bases you would expect, from foot stomping hand clapping country (Raise ‘Em Up on Honey) to straight ahead rock (Baby, All Those Girls Meant Nothing To Me), but the majority of the album tends toward the subtle and subdued. In many ways its best tracks (The Palace Guards, I sold the Arabs The Moon and Submarine) most closely resemble the sonic palate of Cracker’s Gentleman’s Blues, and for me at least that’s a good thing.
Though a bit more sparse, both lyrically and musically than Gentleman’s Blues, The Palace Guards opens up with repeated listens, revealing additional details along the way, and that’s the best thing I can say about it. There are albums that will never be as good as the first time you heard them…any record by Son Volt, and there are albums that gain strength over time. This one is of the second type. If you are a fan of Lowery’s other projects, then The Palace Guards is worth your time. If you’ve never been a fan, then you probably stopped reading a couple hundred words ago…
My Three (other) Albums of the Week:
- Crazy Horse – Crazy Moon
- Jackie McLean – 4, 5, and 6
- Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Demos
