Back in 1996, I was working a horrible, soul-sucking job. It didn’t last long before I moved on to another horrible, soul-sucking job, but I had Wilco’s A.M. album to help get me through the day. Centro-matic’s FORT RECOVERY reminds me a lot of that one, minus the foot-stomping rouser on the level of “Casino Queen” (oh, and minus the horrible, soul-sucking vibe to which it provided a soundtrack). This album is red dirt-dirty and gravel road-gravelly, full of raw, unpolished, mid-tempo ballads and rockers courtesy of the plaintive, pained voice of Will Johnson. It’s introspective rock infused with the spirit of the South, which means equal doses of hope and heartbreak. ‘Tis best to drown your sorrows in it than a mug of suds, though that might enhance the experience even further.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 27th, 2006 at 2:11 pm and is filed under Music Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.