GREAT PEACOCK - FOREVER WORSE BETTER

ROUTES & BRANCHES  

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

October 11, 2020

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

Some of what we include in our ROUTES-casts is americana.  But many of the artists we review would prefer alternative country, country-rock, indie folk, Southern rock, or just plain rock 'n roll to the americana moniker.  I'm alright with that.  Genres are so fluid today, and it might be enough to simply lump all this stuff into one dusty bin labeled american-ish ... 

Andrew Nelson of Great Peacock has been successfully engaged in this dance since the band's debut EP.  Across the wide expanses of 2015's Making Ghosts and especially pulling into 2018's Gran Pavo Real, Great Peacock have been deliberately and admirably seeking to expand the reach of their sound.  Think Dawes, or maybe the Pollies, acts with one confident foot in the familiar soil of roots rock and the other tapping restlessly into that well-mapped territory simply called rock 'n roll.  Think Delta Spirit, Fruit Bats, Blitzen Trapper.  Not terrible company, really.  

I might not be the first to inform you that things have changed since 2018.  Great Peacock have changed, paring down to a lean three-piece with Nelson sharing the stage alongside fellow guitarist and singer Blount Floyd, and bassist Frank Keith IV.  The perpetual touring that the band relied upon to attract their fan base is, of course, not a thing for the moment.  But like so many other bands, Nelson and co have chosen to cast their fate to the wind by releasing new music in the form of Forever Worse Better, a full-length that gives expression to the Southern roots-rock side of Great Peacock's musical equation.  

Nelson has mentioned how most of his writing of late has happened in the cab of a truck, as he transports meat from farm to restaurant.  For some, this might result in a record packed with road songs, but for Nelson the long stretches of time between the lines prompted some soul-searching and introspection.  The early songs on Forever Worse Better speak to human connection, a yearning for a woman's companionship.  All I ever do is dream about you, Nelson confesses on the collection's cinematic opener, the singer's double-tracked vocals echoing across ringing guitars and hammered drums.  A similar urgency fuels "Strange Position" until Nelson sings over the fading ghosts of electric guitars, I'm never over you.  

Fact is, nobody is at their strongest when they're in the throes of unrequited desire. Great Peacock invest their songs with a passion and drama that hint at these episodes of desperation.  Sadler Vaden contributes expressive slide guitar to "Heavy Load", a moment of acoustic calm in the eye of the storm.  As a lyricist, Andrew Nelson is a man of relatively few words, never overreaching for an image or an honest emotion: Don't let go / Don't give up / I know how much it hurts.  

Spoiler: the girl gets away.  Great Peacock populates the latter half of Forever Worse Better with songs that address the existential reckoning that fills the void left by our more corporeal desires.  More specifically, as the fever of desire breaks, Nelson directs his attention inward, puzzling out matters of meaning and belonging in a deeper sense.  It's in moments like "Old Man" and "Rock of Ages" that the trio's music takes flight.  On the former, a bluesy guitar grind with a tuneful bridge, the narrator regards his future and fate in the wisdom of experience: Could you tell me a secret, he asks. How do you make love work?  "Rock of Ages" is a lovely highlight reflection balanced between the grace of Adam Kurtz's pedal steel and the grit of another Sadler Vaden solo.  The piece also marks one of Andrew Nelson's most expressive and soulful vocal deliveries, recalling the understated solo work of Will Johnson.  He calls out with an uncertain prayer: Take this weary heart of mine / Mend my weary mind / Give me so much more than wasted time.

While Forever Worse Better is not a religious or proselytizing collection, it's common for a writer to resort to traditionally spiritual language when engaging in this kind of soul mining.  This is especially evident in "Help Me Lord", a moment of vulnerability, or on the drum-driven rocker "High Wind".  With echoes of Springsteen or Isbell, the song epitomizes the reach of Great Peacock's musical aspiration.  Rather than relying solely on guitars to carry the emotional weight of their music, Nelson and his cohorts place a surprising amount of that responsibility on Nick Recio and his percussion, an unusual gesture for a roots band.  And once again, Nelson's deceptively straightforward lyrics speak volumes: I ain't afraid of dying ... I'm afraid of never being alive.  

Since that earliest EP, Great Peacock have sought admirably to set themselves apart from the crowded roots rock field.  On Forever Worse Better, it's not about reinventing the wheel or trying to make noise that other acts haven't made.  Instead, it's about making the most of these familiar tools at their disposal:  Old life / Alcohol and tears / Past life souvenirs.  And what might've begun in the crowded cab of one man's truck speaks volumes about our shared human condition, looking for connection, reaching for identity.  The collection's poignant final tune, "Learning to Say Goodbye" grows from an acoustic strum and a distant breeze of string to the full storm of those guitars and drums.  Andrew Nelson arrives as the lifesaving realization: It's okay to be alone.  

- Shemekia Copeland, "Clotilda's On Fire" Uncivil War  (Alligator, Oct 23)  D

- Drive-by Truckers, "New OK" New OK  (ATO, 20)

- Jon Snodgrass, "Brand New Lands (feat. Stacey Dee, Stephen Egerton)" Tace  (A-F, 20)

- Lydia Loveless, "September (feat. Laura Jane Grace)" Daughter  (Honey You're Gonna Be Late, 20)

- Hiss Golden Messenger, "Rock Holy (live)" School Daze: Fundraiser for Durham Public School Students  (Merge, 20)  D

- Cut Worms, "Heat Is On" Nobody Lives Here Anymore  (Jagjaguwar, 20)

- John Calvin Abney, "When This Blows Over" Familiar Ground  (Black Mesa, Nov 20)

- Blitzen Trapper, "Don't Let Me Run" Holy Smokes Future Jokes  (Yep Roc, 20)

- Angie McMahon, "Born to Die" Piano Salt EP  (Dualtone, 20)

- Buck Meek, "Second Sight" Two Saviors  (Keeled Scales, Jan 15)  D

- Nude Party, "Things Fall Apart" Midnight Manor  (New West, 20)

- Jeff Tweedy, "Gwendolyn" Love Is the King  (dBpm, Oct 23)

^ Great Peacock, "Rock of Ages" Forever Worse Better  (Soundly, 20)

- Tin Horn Prayer, "Stumble" Grapple the Rails  (THP, 13)

- Dave Hause, "When It Don't Come Easy (feat. Laura Stevenson)" Patty EP  (Soundly, Oct 23)

- Yola, "Hold On (feat. Highwomen)" single  (Why Queue, 20)  D

- Jeremy Ivey, "Hands Down In Your Pockets" Waiting Out the Storm  (Anti, 20)

- Michael Dean Damron, "Doll" Plea From a Ghost  (Suburban Home, 11)

- Caroline Spence, "The Choir" single  (Rounder, 20)  D

- Dead South, "This Little Light of Mine" single  (Six Shooter, 20)  D

- Cordovas, "Afraid No More" Destiny Hotel  (Anti, Oct 16)

- Jay Farrar, "Fool King's Crown" Terroir Blues  (Transmit Sound, 12)

- Kevin Morby, "Sundowner" Sundowner  (Dead Oceans, Oct 16)

- Will Kimbrough, "Home Remedy" Spring Break  (Daphne, Oct 23)

- Bonnie Whitmore, "Love Worth Remembering" Last Will & Testament  (Starlet & Dog, 20)

- Brent Cobb, "Soapbox (feat. Nikki Lane)" Keep 'Em On They Toes  (Ol' Buddy, 20)

- Jess Cornelius, "Love and Low Self Esteem" Nothing is Lost EP  (Cornelius, 17)

- Frank Turner & Jon Snodgrass, "Bad Times Good Vibes" Buddies II: Still Buddies  (Xtra Mile, Nov 13)  D

- Elizabeth Cook, "Mary, the Submissing Years" Aftermath  (Agent Love, 20)

- Two Dollar Pistols, "Gettin' Gone" You Ruined Everything  (Yep Roc, 02)

As we face down the last several weeks of 2020: the Plague Year, you could do worse than to rely on A Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster to keep you in the know about what's still to come.  Sturgill Simpson has been keeping company with some tremendous talents from the bluegrass field.  Think guitarist Mark Howard, Sierra Hull on vocals and mandolin, the fiddle of Stuart Duncan.  Cuttin' Grass Vol 1: the Butcher Shoppe Sessions will land this Friday.  Keeled Scales will be blessing 2021 with one of its first releases.  Big Thief member Buck Meek will share the New Orelans-born Two Saviors on January 15.  Later than month, Langhorne Slim is planning a January 29 unveiling for Strawberry Mansion (Dualtone).  

I'm still trying to figure how to link to our usual weekly Spotify ROUTES-cast.  Until then, just open Spotify and search for "routesandbranches" to access this most recent playlist, as well as many others from past months.  

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