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JLOBBERBQHE: THIJ II RQCK
A quarter century after the fact, fiddleman
Charlie Daniels' boast of "the South rising
again" is coming true... musically speaking,
anyway. After years of bands being seemingly
embarrassed about their Southern heritage, both
musically and culturally, a good number of outfits
are lovingly embracing both. Sure, mor® than a
couple are going about it with the wrong head,
resulting in little more than slavish copies of
every cliche Lynyrd Skynyrd set down back in the
70s, missing the point entirely. And just what was
the point of Southern Rock as set down by the
late, great Ronnie Van Zant? Well, it was simply
being yourself, musically and personally, and not
trying to fit into any music business classification.
It is, in a sense, letting your music do the talking,
and if what ycu're saying is real, it'll get across.
Several bands making a stir on the indepen
dent rock scene are following that aesthetic, such
as Athens' own Drive-By Truckers and The Bottle
Rockets from Festus, MO, and a little band from
Denton, Texas, called Slobberbone. These "Neo
Southern Rock" bands, for lack of a better phrase,
are all about cutting to the heart of the matter
and being real, for better or worse, because in the
end it's all rock and roll.
"I like that description," says Slobberbone's
lead singer-guitarist Brent Best thoughtfully,
"because it has less to do with country and rock
and more to do with being yourself. Really,
they've been talking about it for a long time, but
it's been around before they gave it a name.
People buy music like they buy clothes, and it can
cause people to miss the point sometimes. It's all
the same, doesn't matter if it's a quiet acoustic
song or a wall of feedback, as long as the song's
real."
It's that dichotomy between acoustic calm and
feedback-drenched rage, as well as that dedication
to "keeping it real," that makes Slobberbone such
an exciting band. Easily switching from a man
dolin-laden slice of country heartbreak to a full-
on, punk-fueled sonic attack, all centered around
Best's growling, whiskey-soaked vocals and often
dark, intelligent lyrics, the group often melds both
seamlessly. The band's latest effort, the long-
awaited Everything You Thought Was Right Was
Wrong Today, represents the zenith of such efforts
and is quite possibly Slobberbone's best work to
date.
"In the beginning, it was just more straight
guitar rock juxtaposed with country bass," Best
explains. "At some point, we gave that up and
decided to be whatever the hell we were. It's
better to sit back and let the music do whatever it
wanted to do."
As powerful as the new record is, it has even
more impact when placed next to Slobberbone's
other two records, 1996's Crow Pot Pie and 1997's
Barrel Chested. All three albums are full of contra
dictions: punk-influenced rockers next to country
throwdowns; tunes tha^ are a bit goofy on the
surface but have a deeper and darker meaning
underneath; and story songs that resemble Tom T.
Hall's knack for "telling the tale," yet nevertheless
cut to a deeply personal place. From Best's per
spective, Crow Pot Pie was about
being a "fuck up" while
Barrel Chested tells of
a fuck up realizing
there has to
be a place
to go
from
wher
ever he
was, the
matically. In
that light.
Everything You
Thought... is that fuck-up
taking a look around at the world and,
in realizing his place in it, finding the strength to
go on.
I tried not to dictate the album thematically,
but I realized there were ties between the songs,"
Best admits. "The connection between it all was
trust and conviction to yourself. It's being able to
stay true to yourself despite what's falling apart
around you."
Slobberbone grew out of a bunch of country-
loving punk rockers playing gigs for free beer. As a
matter of fact, the band's first gig was at a liquor
store in its native town. A small college town,
Denton had a strong band scene but not many
clubs for the bands to play. Choosing the name
from a dog's chewtoy, Slobberbone spent $400
recording Crow Pot Pie in 1995 for a calling card
to snag regional gigs. Catching the ears of execu
tives of Texas label Doolittle, the band was quickly
signed and released a re-recorded version of the
album. Building a strong following in Texas and
the Southwest, the band returned
with the grittier and darker
Barrel Chested.
Throughout both
there were
glimpses of
often
goofy
humor—
particularly
on songs like
"Engine Joe" and
"Tilt-a-Whirl"—but even
in those songs. Best's dark
thematic vision bubbled underneath.
"Both records were good snapshots of where
the band was at the time," he points out. "Even
those goofy songs we did had a dark bent to
them, and I like stuff like that. People can enjoy a
song on a surface level, but if they dig, they'll
find something entirely different going on. I really
try not to think too much about where we want to
go thematically, just so it's always a progression."
With widespread critical and audience acclaim,
the band solidified it's lineup with Best, bassist
COUNTRY
Brian Lane, drummer Tony Harper and guitarist
Jess Barr. Best's songs matured by leaps and
bounds, heavily influenced by such lyrical authors
as Mississippi's Larry Brown. Doolittle merged with
California label New West last year, giving the
band a bigger budget for Everything You
Thought....
Recorded at the legendary Ardent Studios in
Memphis, the new album is an incredible leap for
ward for Slobberbone, showing an even larger
scope than the last two records. With guest
appearances from producer guru Jim Dickinson on
the lovely "Lumberlung," Memphis hornmen Scott
Thompson and Kirk Smothers on the high-octane
Replacements tribute "Placemat Blues," and guest
vocals from Trucker frontman Patterson Hood on
the bluegrass-inspired rave up "Lazy Guy,"
Slobberbone is all over the map stylistically but
never loses a sense of cohesiveness throughout
the record.
Recognizing that the band has neither the
sound nor the look for mass mainstream success.
Best is philosophical about where Slobberbone fits
in today's musical scope. Basically, he and his
bandmates enjoy what they're doing and are
making ends meet financially, so that's pretty
much enough encouragement to stick at it.
Slobberbone will keep playing and keep maturing
as a band, Best said, and as long as it keeps pro
gressing, he feels everything's the way it should
be.
"Bands like the Rockets, the Truckers and us...
we're all too damn ugly to get MTV," he laughs.
"To me, mainstream really means 'bad,' so who
cares? There's always great music going on, but
it's not on MTV or Top-40 radio, sc screw it.
"By virtue of throwing everyth'ng out there on
this new record, we sorta cleared the decks, and I
like the idea of being able to go into the next
album doing whatever the hell we want to do. The
only reason you do it at this level is because you
like it. If I wanted to make money, I wouldn't be
doing this. I'd be lying if I said we didn't get
down sometimes by all the bullshit, but we're
always waiting to see what's around the corner."
Matt Thompson
WHO: Slobberbone, Drive-By
Truckers
WHERE: Tasty World
WHEN: Friday, August 11
HOW MUCH: $5
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Junkman"/!
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450 E. Claqton /t. * 543.4454
m FLAGPOLE AUGUST 9
/
2000