ROUTES & BRANCHES
featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
May 21, 2023
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust
Our kind of music is full of acts that make a lifetime of good noise in exchange for too little acclaim. While David Wax Museum (David Wax and Suz Slezak) have garnered enough recognition to make a living out of the touring-album-touring life, and while they count author Barbara Kingsolver and Pete Buttigieg among their fans, the duo haven't yet received their due attention. Since 2008's I Turned Off Thinking About, David Wax Museum's songs have grown and evolved, sounds gathering around the hub of what they termed Mexo-Americana. Last year, Slezak released an underappreciated solo project, Our Wings Must Be Featherless, reminding listeners of the part she plays in the outfit's overall vibe.
Those earlier recordings were largely acoustic, their percussive and colorful tracks sounding like the product of a pair of adventurous spirits in a roomful of eclectic instruments. Both the writing and the arrangements ripened to the point where David Wax Museum effectively became an indie-folk act with recurring Mexican tendencies. After wrapping up their tenth project, You Must Change Your Life (Nine Mile), Wax landed in a hospital bed with an undiagnosed heart condition which cast a consequential glow to the proceedings.
Appropriately, the thirteen cuts on You Must Change Your Life liberate David Wax Museum from whatever bounds had restrained them, both fulfilling that earliest promise and likely surprising listeners with new options. Produced by Dan Molad of Lucius, songs like "Best Lover" burst with unexpected textures, from the deep rumbling bass to Slezak's pop vocal complement and even a helping of tubular bells. This on top of the familiar Mexican hand percussion and Wax's reliable delivery. "Your Heart's a Pinata" becomes a doo-wop influenced gem featuring low woodwinds and burbling piano: Keep swinging in the dark / Eventually you'll hit the mark. The surprise here is the confident looseness in the playing and the generous space in the arrangement, sounds that might've fit alongside Paul Simon's Puerto Rican period.
Those infectious rhythms continue at the forefront of David Wax Museum's sensual appeal. The syncopated "Summer Wrapped in Gold" recalls Los Lobos, skronky sax and cacophonous bridge included: So faintly so sweet / Rain on a barn roof / My heart still beats to that syncopated truth (cue Slezak's angelic chorus). Wax delivers "Ahualulco" in Spanish. The most trad cut arrives bright with horns and reckless percussion. "Back To Mexico" similarly walks the line between Mexican folk and alt.studio touches that are as organic as they are novel. Recalling life-changing time spent in Mexico as a Harvard student, Wax sings: Oh to be young / Speaking the tongue / Not mine from birth / Though it gave me a thirst / And off the path of reason I swerved. The result is as much a colorful fever dream as anthropological expression.
More than any other David Wax Museum project, You Must Change Your Life makes a case for the duo as underrecognized pop masters. The accordion-fueled "Luanne" adds 60s pop strings and a manic sax solo, while the title track relies on bouncing piano and Tweedy-esque edge: It's never too late / What are you waiting for. Beneath its neon pulse, the sensuous "That Night in Richmond" impresses with its pure songwriting vibe. These sessions sound less like two musical friends having a ball and more like artists pursuing a shared vision. Less like a homey DIY quilt than a far-sighted, contemporary piece of art.
Little sounds like you'd expect on this new collection, especially for those who might have followed David Wax and Suz Slezak since their earliest days. To their credit, however, throughout the evolution they have remained true to the joy and the color and the smart that earned David Wax Museum its dedicated fan base. It honors Wax's personal vision for the record: ... a whole sonic world that is sensual, textured, deeply grooved and fully fleshed out, encompassing the emotional gamut of life.
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As we head into another ROUTES-cast packed with debuts ("D"), let's spotlight a couple of the more notable additions to A Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster. Fresh off her Songwriter Tapes collaboration with Luke Laird and Barry Dean, Lori McKenna has announced a date for her forthcoming solo LP. 1988 is scheduled for a July 21 release (CN). Jason Eady's upcoming project will be produced by Gordy Quist. Mississippi (Old Guitar, Aug 11) will reportedly focus in the music and the groove, with the lyrics following the music's lead. Colorado's Gregory Alan Isakov has shared information about his first release since 2018's Evening Machines. Appaloosa Bones is calendared for an August 18 release, courtesy of the Dualtone label. Morgan Wade's 2021 Reckless landed near the top of my favorite albums list for that year. We eagerly await her follow-up, Psychopath, due August 25 on Sony. Finally, Margo Cilker received end-of-year accolades for her 2021 debut. She's scheduled her sophomore album, Valley of Heart's Delight, for September 15 via Fluff & Gravy.
- Lydia Loveless & Jason Hawk Harris, "Portions For Foxes" single (Bloodshot, 23) D
- Langkamer, "Sarah" Noon and Midnight Manual (Breakfast, 23)
- Greensky Bluegrass, "Congratulations and Condolences" single (Big Blue Zoo, 23) D
- Drive-by Truckers, "Goode's Field Road (Remixed/Remastered)" Complete Dirty South (New West, Jun 16)
- Erin Viancourt, "Should've Known Better" Won't Die This Way (Late August, Jul 21) D
- Ward Davis, "Day One" Sunday Morning EP (Davis, 23) D
- Marty Stuart, "Vegas" Altitude (Superlatone, 23)
- Morgan Wade, "Psychopath" Psychopath (Sony, Aug 25) D
- Rodney Rice, "Get To Where I'm Going" Rodney Rice (Edgewater, 23) D
- Kyle Nix & the 38s, "Another Bad Dream" After the Flood Vol 1 (Soundly, Jul 28) D
- Brandy Clark, "Tell Her You Don't Love Her (ft Lucius)" Brandy Clark (Warner, 23)
- Jeremie Albino, "Tears You Hide" Tears You Hide (Good People, Jun 9)
- Robert Ellis, "Wait" Yesterday's News (Niles City, 23)
- Logan Ledger, "Golden State" Golden State (Rounder, Sep 8) D
- Miles Miller, "A Feeling Called Lonesome" Solid Gold (Easy Lovin, Jul 7)
- Nicholas Jamerson, "Wild Nights Wierd Mornings" Peace Mountain (Bingo Shack, 23)
- Whitney Rose, "Barb Wire Blossom" Rosie (MCG, 23)
- Ben Danaher, "Resurrection" Resurrection (Danaher, 23) D
- Anna Tivel, "Good Fight" single (Mama Bird, 23) D
- Gregory Alan Isakov, "The Fall" Appaloosa Bones (Dualtone, Aug 18) D
- Milk Carton Kids, "Wheels & Levers" I Only See the Moon (Far Cry, 23)
- Molly Parden, "Maybe It Will Stay, Maybe It Will Grow" single (Tone Tree, 23) D
- Mapache, "People Please" Swinging Stars (Innovative Leisure, Aug 18) D
- Bright Eyes, "Blue Angels Air Show (Companion Version)" Noise Floor: a Companion (Dead Oceans, Jun 16) D
- Chris Staples, "Bulldozer Mouth" single (Hot Tub, 23) D
- Deer Tick, "Once In a Lifetime" Emotional Contracts (ATO, Jun 16)
- Spoon, "Sugar Babies" Memory Dust EP (Matador, Jun 13) D
- Califone, "comedy" villagers (Jealous Butcher, 23)
- Lake Nakomah, "Early Snow" Lake Nakomah (Single Lock, 23)
- Westelaken, "Fixed Up By Orange Light" I Am Steaming Mushrooms (Westelaken, May 26) D
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