Roots rock music that's like it's been dragged behind a pickup truck for a while- protest songs and singalongs - bar room brawlers and drunken maulers.

9 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Americana, FOLK: Folk-Rock

Details:
In what might be the perfect soundtrack with which to ring out the Bush presidency, Ryan Purcell releases his debut CD, "Kick the Dirt."

Opening the CD with a sardonic bluesy kick is "Guantanamo," with echoes of Randy Newman and Tom Waits, showcasing Ryan Purcell's rough and ready vocals and a loose - in the best sense of that word - band in fine alt-country form.

The songs alternate between fiery protest songs and drinking songs of every description, from the loping country feel of "Don't Stop," with its yearning pedal steel and themes of a disappearing future, to the Neil Young influenced, guitar driven rock of "Enough."

Cutting, political lyrics mix with more personal themes of disappointment and loss throughout. The recording, however, avoids being either preachy or a downer due to a bone dry sense of humor and a sense that all things are still possible. The lyrics from "You Better Start Coming Around," a finely drawn song that explores issues of personal responsibility and the Iraq war, alludes to this with the bold declaration - "I know someday, baby, love is coming..." - only to follow it up with the qualifier "but I can't say where or how."

That ability to believe passionately that a thing is true and to believe just as passionately in it's opposite is a hallmark of some of the stellar musical artists of our time and Ryan Purcell is reaching out ambitiously to be included in the conversation.

A highlight of many bands featuring brothers is the way the fraternal vocals blend together, and "Kick the Dirt" is no exception. Evan Purcell plays slide and electric guitar on the recording and also sings backup. The blending of his high, sweeter vocal lines with the gritty lead vocals of his older brother ground the songs. Whether asking the question "When will the sunshine on everyone, the same as falls the rain?' in the pop/folk protest song "Sunshine," or belting it out over the blistering guitar attack of "The Decider," the song that closes the album and decisively delivers a swift lyrical boot to the rear of our soon to be departed president, the voices blend together as one inseparable entity.

The band, playing loose and ferocious at all times, also features the inventive drumming of Mark Pickerel (Screaming Trees, Niko Case) and the steady pulse of Jim Sangster on bass. (Young Fresh Fellows, The Picketts) Ty Bailie, doing a fine Garth Hudson interpretation, fills out the band on organ and piano. The sessions were captured by the sympathetic ear of Johnny Sangster, who recorded and produced an album full of high level musicianship and excellent songwriting.

Listen to this recording when you're tired of all the political gamesmanship and you need something to cut through the BS.

People who are interested in Steve Earle The Band The Gourds should consider this download.