pic by Anna Stockton

ROUTES & BRANCHES  

featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music

July 21, 2019

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

I begin most of my reviews by looking back, by listening to an artist's earlier work.  Especially if I'm less familiar with their recorded output, this can set the stage for writing about their new stuff.  In preparing to address Chuck Cleaver's first proper solo record, I went back to survey the music he made with Ass Ponys and with Wussy.  And that's pretty much where I stayed.  My musical reach is wide and deep, and I know a little about a whole lot.  Sad fact is, while neither act is new to me (I know I've shared stuff from both on past R&B playlists), until this week I hadn't realized what I've been missing for the past thirty years.  Thirty Years!  Working in a record store, serving as Music Director at two radio stations, blogging for more than a decade.  Never had I thought, "Hm ... maybe I should give these Ass Ponys and/or Wussy a bit of my time".  Well, mea damn culpa.

Cleaver and friends haven't necessarily needed my help.  They've garnered some key critical acclaim over the years, and while neither act is a household name, they are embraced by a community of dedicated fans.  Most impressively, through Ass Ponys and Wussy, Cleaver and his cohort have managed to evolve while keeping true to their muse.  With the exception of my basketball game, it's difficult to work on something for nearly four decades without sharpening your skills.  Even as they are fond of letting their ragged edges show, the great secret is that Wussy has become quite a band, making more noise and writing better songs with each project.

Wussy is effectively the shared vision of Chuck Cleaver and Lisa Walker, joined by bassist Mark Messerly and Joe Klug, with former Ass Pony John Erhardt on pedal steel and guitar.  But the heart of the act lies in the remarkably complimentary work of the two writers and vocalists.  Following the release of last year's What Heaven is Like, Cleaver found himself wading through a collection of songs he says weren't worthy of the band, and Send Aid ensued.

Cleaver has admittedly never felt especially at home on a stage without his bandmates.  Wussy itself was an organic outgrowth of an attempt to surround himself with collaborators during a solo show in the wake of the Ass Ponys' dissolution.  Without Walker and co., the songs of Send Aid actually sound like the fringes of the Ponys roots-oriented sound, albeit with a backyard shed full of studio odds and ends.  Hardly a true solo record, the songs find Cleaver surrounded by longtime friends and collaborators from fellow Cincinnati acts.  But left to his own devices, it's still his own idiosyncratic  vision that dictates the direction for the brief, lo-fi, shambling collection.

Admittedly, Send Aid doesn't serve as a healthy place for listeners to begin their journey through the mind of Chuck Cleaver.  But folks who have followed him throughout his musical wanderings will understand and appreciate the odds 'n sods nature of the album.  As the title would hint, "Mess" sounds like it was recorded from within a closet next to a cavernous room where the band was performing.  It's capped off by a perfectly glorious mess of electric guitar squall.  Few of these tunes summit the 3-minute mark, with most simply introducing the listener to the musical concept before seeing itself out.

A number of these cast-offs are folksongs at heart, even as they are tangled with bits of sonic detritus such as programmed drums or sitar.  Like "Devil May Care", however, the notorious curmudgeon can't hide his masterful ability to pen a catchy song.  Cleaver layers his vocal atop a bright retro synth line: The saints are concerned / And the devil may care / But I don't.  It would appear he doesn't even want you to enjoy his company.  "Terrible Friend" showcases a pounding bass drum and strumming guitars, the soundtrack to a self-damning confession: I'll leave you hanging down at the gallows tree / 'Cause I'm a terrible friend.

Yet, like its creator Send Aid can't help but be charming, even at its most frayed.  The pieces might've been written with tongue-in-cheek, though Cleaver wears his heart perpetually on his sleeve.  Loud guitars have served an ever increasing role in Cleaver's work.  A really messed up hootenanny, "Children of the Corn" includes a twangy mouth harp alongside a classic guitar riff.  The writer references Stephen King's titular novel/film: We've been reborn / Like Malachi from Children of the Corn.  No matter the vehicle, it's impossible to escape the singer's trademark vocal.  While Cleaver will be quick to dismiss his abilities, there's no denying that the years have taught him to apply his voice to its full extent.  Layered deep within the mix, he's augmented by a click rhythm track and a repeated beatbox grunt on "Weekend That It Happened".  Awash in staticky sworls: Welcome to this life on Mars / We save our seed in mason jars.  It's almost disruptive when we're presented with the relatively straightforward "Night We Missed the Horror Show".

"Anything" is Send Aid's most direct moment, a heartfelt appeal to the fleeting encounters that haunt our lives.  Chuck Cleaver's songs for Wussy aren't always this simple or this loose.  Even in this atypical setting, these fragments betray his abiding commitment to that immediate melodic appeal.  Like Scott McCaughey, he is a deceptively sharp songsmith, writing behind a lifetime of musical engagement.  Cleaver has scheduled a calendar of dates featuring a writers-in-the-round arrangement with Lisa Walker and Mark Messerly, and he has alluded to the possibility of a future project of work with just himself and Walker (each of these would be unmissable opportunities).  With its jagged and jaded soul, Send Aid has at least provided me with an occasion to explore a couple decades' worth of the remarkable noises and primal visions that have brought us to this point.

- Wussy, "Soak it Up" Funeral Dress  (Shake It, 05)
^ Chuck Cleaver, "Devil May Care" Send Aid  (Shake It, 19)
- Angie McMahon, "Pasta" Salt  (Compass, Jul 26)
- Jesse Malin, "Meet Me at the End of the World" Sunset Kids  (Wicked Cool, Aug 30)
- Cave Singers, "Black Leaf" No Witch  (Jagjaguwar, 11)
- Wilco, "Love is Everywhere" Ode to Joy  (dBpm, Oct 4)  D
- Brittany Howard, "Stay High" Jaime  (ATO, Sep 20)
- Hiss Golden Messenger, "Cat's Eye Blue" Terms of Surrender  (Merge, Sep 20)
- Sylvan Esso, "Slack Jaw" What Now  (Loma Vista, 17)
- Whitney, "Valleys (My Love)" Forever Turned Around  (Secretly Canadian, Aug 30)
- Andrew Combs, "Save Somebody Else" Ideal Man  (New West, Sep 20)
- Larry & His Flask, "Goodbye Ghost (Tennessee Sessions)" Everything Besides  (Xtra Mile, 19)
- Pieta Brown, "Ask for More"  Freeway  (Righteous Babe, Sep 27)
- Joseph Huber, "Moondog" Moondog  (Huber, 19)
- Hurray for the Riff Raff, "Settle" Navigator  (ATO, 17)
- Highwomen, "Redesigning Women" Highwomen  (Elektra, Sep 6)  D
- Whiskey Myers, "Gasoline" Whiskey Myers  (Wiggy Thump, Sep 27)
- Dalton Domino, "Cheap Spanish Wine" Songs From the Exile  (Lightning Rod, Aug 23)
- Leslie Stevens, "Depression Descent" Sinner  (LyricLand, Aug 23)
- Rod Picott, "80 John Wallace" Tell the Truth & Shame the Devil  (Welding Rod, 19)
- Joe Pug, "Blues Came Down" Flood in Color  (Nation of Heat, 19)
- Chuck Ragan, "Landsick" Flame in the Flood  (Ten Four, 16)
- Beth Bombara, "Tenderhearted" Evergreen  (Bombara, Aug 9)
- Rodney Crowell, "What You Gonna Do Now (feat. Lyle Lovett)" TEXAS  (RC1, Aug 15)
- Corb Lund, "Cover of the Rolling Stone (feat. Hayes Carll)" Cover Your Tracks EP  (New West, Sep 13)  D
- Miranda Lambert, "Locomotive" single  (Sony, 19)  D
- Joan Shelley, "Cycle" Like the River Loves the Sea  (No Quarter, Aug 30)
- Molly Sarle, "Human" Karaoke Angel  (Partisan, Sep 30)  D
- Brent Cobb, "Shine On Rainy Day" Shine On Rainy Day  (Elektra, 16)
- Karen Jonas, "Oklahoma Lottery" Lucky Revisited  (Yellow Brick, 19)  D


This proved a terrific week for new release announcements, all of which are painstakingly documented in our Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster.  Every week we keep one eye on the 'net for news of what's on the musical frontiers (the other eye tends to be restless and wandering, which ends up making us look dangerous).  Been a productive year for the trio of artists known as Mountain Man.  Amelia Meath has kept herself busy with her Sylvan Esso duo, as well as some studio work.  Alexandra Sauser-Monnig released a solo project under the Daughter of Swords moniker.  Now Molly Sarle is preparing for the September 20 release of Karaoke Angel.  Paul Westerberg was never too happy with the Replacements' 1989 record, Don't Tell a Soul.  The sessions have been remixed, and will be issued with gobs of other material for the September 27 release of Dead Man's Pop.  Also in September, Corb Lund will share an EP of covers, Cover Your Tracks, while we await his next real CD.  Louisville folker Joan Shelley is joined by friends James Elkington, Nathan Salsburg and Bonnie Prince Billy for Like the River Loves the Sea  (No Quarter, Aug 30).  All that you've heard is true.  September 6 marks the date for the Highwomen, featuring an allstar lineup of Maren Morris, Natalie Hemby, Brandi Carlile and Amanda Shires.  After keeping to himself for seven years, Chris Knight has set an October 11 date for Almost Daylight.  Also in October, Wilco will be offering Ode to Joy.  And who knows what's in the wings for Sturgill Simpson, whose next project will be a really sleazy, steamy rock n roll record ... to be accompanied by a futuristic dystopian post-apocalyptic samurai film.  Hm.  It's called Sound & Fury, and it's due wherever music matters sometime this Fall.  Deep breath.  Your ROUTES-cast:

> ROUTES-casts from 2019 have been removed; subscribe to our Spotify page to keep up with all our new playlists!