...beeindruckt mit exquisitem Songmaterial,
organischem, warmem Sound und liebevollen Arrangements. Das Schwergewicht
der prächtigen Songkollektion liegt auf bewegenden, schlichten Folk-
und Countryballaden mit gefühlvoller Untermalung von Steelgitarre
(Creosote) oder Banjo (No More Parades). Doch auch die rockige Seite von
Son Volt kommt in Titeln wie dem druckvollen Opener Caryatid Easy oder
dem mit eindringlichen Gitarrensoli gewürzten Stück Picking
Up The Signal zum Tragen. Jay Farrars sonore, nasale Stimme transportiert
Gefühle wie Trauer und Melancholie ohne Pathos und Selbstmitleid.
(Musikwoche)
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Simply put, this is one of the greatest albums in recent times.
Where `Trace´ offered songs and simple structures, `Straightaways´
is a howling twister, a barrage of lyrics that are hard to make out, guitars
trash against traditionalism and Farrar´s vocal sucks you in, spinning
into his world. It´s loud, it´s whispering... You should forget
what reviewers have said after just a couple of plays. You need to live
with this album.
(Happenstance)
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Although none of the songs on Straightaways immediately jump off the
grooves, as was the case with the band's brilliant debut, Trace, repeated
spins reveal a strong effort nonetheless. Whereas former Uncle Tupelo
partner Jeff Tweedy and his band, Wilco, used its sophomore release to
explore new territory, Son Volt leader and songwriter Jay Farrar keeps
his band mining the same country-folk vein that Uncle Tupelo quarried.
There are plenty of threads to connect Straightaways to Trace, such as
the expressive playing of multi-instrumentalist Dave Boquist on guitars,
fiddle, banjo, and lap steel, and Farrar's forlorn vocal delivery, which
could give even the weakest song emotional power. On Straightaways, his
songs live on the same late-night backwoods rural highways that Trace
inhabited, with song titles like "Creosote" and "Cemetery
Savior" conjuring up dark imagery. The album contains plenty of high
points: the aforementioned songs, as well as the lonesome "Back Into
Your World" and "Last Minute Shakedown." And the only place
it comes up short is the lyrics -- unlike Trace, whose songs "Windfall"
and "Tear Stained Eye" stood by themselves and provided a universal
feel and emotion that was easily grasped, much of the lyrical content
of Straightaways seems open-ended and fragmented, with the intensity building
on the haunting instrumental arrangements and Farrar's affecting vocal
phrasing.
(by Jack Leaver, All
Music Guide)
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