by Hayes Carll
Hayes Carll Lovers and Leavers (PBS feature record)
It’s been five long years since we’ve welcomed a new Hayes Carll album and this new one, “Lovers and Leavers” is a departure … of sorts. Gone are the rowdy, knock about tunes of previous efforts. This album is more reflective and confessional, it’s quieter and stripped back. Hayes has had to deal with some issues since we last heard from him, the end of his marriage, departure from his record company, and watching his son grow up (he’s now twelve). These issues are the underlying themes that run throughout the album. The songs deal with the kind of things most of us have to deal with love, loss and giving thanks for what we have. It was produced by Joe Henry and he uses his considerable skills to bring out the best in this more vulnerable and confessional side of Carll. Additional weight is given to some tunes via the pedal steel work of Eric Heywood (Son Volt, Richard Buckner, Tift Merritt). The new album may take some fans a moment to adjust but when they do, they join the rest of us in seeing that it might just be the best work Hayes Carll has delivered to date.
By Myles O'Neill Shaw – 5ft High & Rising
Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds La Araña Es La Vida (Featured on The Breakfast Spread)
Kid Congo Powers has contributed stunning guitar work to some of the most treasured rock 'n' roll bands of all time - The Cramps, The Bad Seeds, The Gun Club, The Fall. As such he could be forgiven for spending the second half of his career sleep-walking through a catalogue of hits to aging punks on cruise ships. Instead he continues to push headlong into uncharted wilds. La Araña Es La Vida is his seventh record in a decade with The Pink Monkey Birds and it's a delight from start to finish. The band sound vital and tight as they traverse a surprisingly diverse array of rhythm & blues, garage punk, 50s rock 'n' roll and even dip a toe into swampy psych. The driving bottom end in ‘Ricky Ticky Tock’ lays the foundation for the slow creep of guitar fuzz that keeps you on the hook until it all melts down into a puddle of bong water. Kid's vocals bring a wonderfully weird and shiny message of positivity to the whole affair. The closing 10-minute guitar workout of ‘Nasty Hat’ is a beautiful finish to a record brimming with love and energy. Hold this one close to your heart – it's like a bottling of the spark that inspired you to pick up a guitar and start a band.
P.S. Treat yourself and listen back to Joshua Hodson-Smith's wonderful Kid Congo special on Peeking Through the Wool here : http://pbsfm.org.au/node/54657
P.P.S read this beautiful and moving piece that Kid wrote about growing up as a young gay man in the punk scene : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kid-congo/how-i-came-out-of-the-clo_b_4891...
By Nick – The Breakfast Spread
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