ROUTES & BRANCHES 
featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
October 18, 2020
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust
Rock 'n roll is messy. It's rude and sloppy, and if it's done right it probably involves bodily fluids. You might want to listen to Low Cut Connie's new double-disc release, Private Lives with a roll of paper towels handy. You're bound to get some on ya.
Adam Weiner and his rotating crew of accomplices released their debut in 2011. I knew about it, saw praise for 2012's Call Me Sylvia, managed to avoid the hubbub stirred up by Dirty Pictures, Parts I & II, even as the music was embraced by tastemakers like Elton John and Barack Obama. It's not that I carefully considered and subsequently dismissed it. I simply chose to not get any on me.
My loss. Three years in the making, Weiner summed up the sprawling seventeen track session saying, Everything with this record was a big mess, but that's what I wanted it to be. Private Lives is a big-hearted homage to the people we are when we set aside our public mask, when we let go of our manners and give rein to primal desires and raw human need. A legendarily emotive showman, Weiner typically holds court from his piano, spitting out lyrics and stirring souls like Satan's own hypeman. Welcome to the gospel according to Adam Weiner.
Low Cut Connie make known their intentions on the LP's title cut: It sounds cheezy, but these people are the reason I'm alive / The town freaks and the sleazies bring a tear to my eye. What follows is like a short story collection, with each story/song delivered from the point of view of one of these lesser-thans, the big buzzing city providing the stage from which each acts out their life. Low-slung sax carries the bottom end of "Private Lives" as the song slithers by on a punk-soul buzz like an early record by fellow Philadephians Marah.
Adam Weiner earned his notoriety through years of sweat-soaked live performances, renowned for shedding articles of clothing, mounting his piano bench and using the stage as a pulpit to preach the gospel of feeling alright to his enthralled audience. With its haphazard editing and frantic pace, Private Lives does a masterful job in translating that live experience onto tape. He begins "What Has Happened To Me" mumbling, Gotta figure out how to start this thing. Like Velvets-era Lou Reed, Weiner intones over abrasive guitar and car crash drums: Starts to feel like religion / Starts to feel like love. "If I Die" is a filthy blues with the singer and guitar jockeying for the mic. Even when there is a bit more order to the proceedings, such as on the gospel-inspired "Help Me", the performance arrives with such urgency and electricity that it brings to mind a stage crowded with horns, guitars and backing singers: When the lord / Lord gets bored / Comes knocking at my door / And he says buddy you're a bad man / You got to work for your reward.
With a full four album sides to work with, Low Cut Connie could have stretched out their jams, indulged their boogie a little more. But there's an impressive sense of economy to Private Lives. Some tunes clock in under two minutes, while very few venture far past the four-minute mark. Some of the most interesting moments catch Adam Weiner alone at his keyboard. With its string flourishes and confidently restrained piano, "Quiet Time" provides a glimpse of artistry that adds an unexpected dimension in the midst of the racket. "Look What They Did" is a heartfelt elegy for Atlantic City, and "Stay As You Like" is an earnest love letter to fans.
But the heart of this new collection beats in the pieces that speak to Adam Weiner's skill as a songwriter. "Charyse" is a rock ode replete with a shredding guitar solo and sharp street-level sense of lyrical poetry: Saw this thing on tv about these kids in California / They ended up with each other, they didn't have any family / It scared the shit out of me / I'm still thinking about it six months later. "Wild Ride" is a spare but moving anthem featuring a deeply satisfying chorus.
I used to reference albums I whiffed on, stuff that I simply overlooked. Sometimes this happens with an artist's entire body of work. I'll find some time to look back on those earlier Low Cut Connie records. But I would guess that Private Lives isn't a terrible launching point to enter the fray. It's sprawling without being overindulgent, presenting Adam Weiner as a tightrope-walking showman capable of unexpected depth of feeling and artistry, a frontman in the tradition of Peter Wolf or Paul Westerberg. More often than not, the appeal is simply in the record's four-minute arguments against perfection and soullessness. He says it best himself in the two-minute "Nobody Else Will Believe You": Do your shit / Do it well / You've got to boogie for yourself / Because nobody else will believe you.
- Jerry David DeCicca, "Coffee Black" Unlikely Optimist and His Domestic Adventures (Super Secret, 20)
- Pearl Charles, "Take Your Time" Magic Mirror (Kanine, Jan 15)
- Jeremy Ivey, "Paradise Alley" Waiting Out the Storm (Anti, 20)
- Great Peacock, "Help Me Lord" Forever Worse Better (Soundly, 20)
- Jackie Greene, "Cold Black Devil / 14 Miles" American Myth (Verve, 06)
- Bonnie Whitmore, "None of My Business" Last Will & Testament (Starlet & Dog, 20)
- David Quinn, "Ride On" Letting Go (Quinn, Oct 23)
- Langhorne Slim, "Mighty Soul" Strawberry Mansion (Dualtone, Jan 29) D
- Dave Alvin, "Highway 61 Revisited" From An Old Guitar (Yep Roc, Nov 20)
- Ward David, "Black Cats and Crows" Black Cats and Crows (Davis, Nov 20) D
- Malin Pettersen, "Holding Lonely" Wildhorse (Die With Your Boots On, 20)
^ Low Cut Connie, "Wild Ride" Private Lives (Contender, 20)
- Cut Worms, "All the Roads" Nobody Lives Here Anymore (Jagjaguwar, 20)
- Weather Station, "Robber" single (Fat Possum, 20) D
- Glorietta, "Golden Lonesome" Glorietta (Nine Mile, 18)
- Sturgill Simpson, "I Don't Mind" Cuttin' Grass Vol 1: Butcher Shoppe Sessions (High Top Mt, 20) D
- Robyn Ludwick, "Ace is High" Lake Charles (Ludwick, 20)
- Wilco, "Candyfloss (demo)" Summerteeth (Deluxe Edition) (Rhino, Nov 6)
- Dead Tongues, "Sister Ivy" Transmigration Blues (Deluxe Edition) (Psychic Hotline, 20)
- Kevin Morby, "Valley" Sundowner (Dead Oceans, 20)
- Cordovas, "Man in My Head" Destiny Hotel (Anti, 20)
- Sue Foley, "New Used Car" New Used Car (Stony Plain, 06)
- Woods, "Midnight Moment" Reflections Vol 1 (Bumble Bee Crown King) (Woodsist, Oct 23) D
- William Elliott Whitmore, "Black Iowa Dirt" I'm With You (Bloodshot, 20)
- Parker McCollum, "Hallie Ray Light" Hollywood Gold EP (MCA Nashville, 20) D
- Otis Gibbs, "Panhead" Hoosier National (Wanamaker, 20)
- Dave Hause, "Minimum Wage is a Gateway Drug (feat. Jake Blount)" Paddy EP (Soundly, Oct 23)
- Austin Lucas, "Drive" Alive in the Hot Zone (Cornelius Chapel, Oct 30)
- Fleet Foxes, "Quiet Air / Gioia" Shore (Anti, 20)
- Bill Callahan w/Bonnie Prince Billy, "I've Made Up My Mind (feat. Alasdair Roberts)" single (Drag City, 20) D
This week's priority adds to A Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster include a rare solo record from former Lone Justice member Marvin Etzioni. Released on his new Regional Records label, What's the Mood In the Country Now will be available this Friday. One of Rounder Records' most prominent recent signings, Sierra Ferrell will be sharing a pair of singles that same day. Dark country writer Ward Davis has revealed details on his next project. Black Cats and Crows will hit proverbial shelves on November 20. In a curious development, M Ward's next collection will feature the singer-guitarist's take on classics from the Billie Holiday songbook. Think of Spring is set for a December 11 street date, courtesy of Anti. That same day, New West presents a full-length collaboration between Kacy & Clayton and Australian songwriter Marlon Williams, Plastic Bouquet. Finally, looking into 2021, mark your calendars for the long-awaited sophomore full-length from The Staves. Good Woman is set for a February 5 release, from Nonesuch.
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.
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