The debut album from the new American standard in hillbilly music features 11 original ditties about kinfolk, Jesus and sweet, merciful death.

12 MP3 Songs
COUNTRY: Bluegrass, ROCK: Punk



Details:
The lumberhorn is a 2 x 4 with an echo chamber on the bottom, and two piano strings tuned with wing nuts. The sensibility that would lead someone (lumberhorninst B.J. McCrow) to conceive of and build such an instrument instead of just using a bass pervades Blood Is Thicker Than Moonshine, and that's a good thing.

The Mighty Lumberhorn describe their sound as "hillbilly music," but it's hillbilly music for 2004, which means that they incorporate the occasional searing electric guitar solo into their bluegrass/country base and write songs about Tupac Shakur. It also means that they have weird, irreverent takes on such subjects as religion ("What Would Jesus Drive," "I'm Gonna Burn In Hell," "Hallelujah") and romance ("Shotgun Wedding").

Songwriting duties are split between McCrow and banjo/guitar player Boy Howdy, with one or two songs by mandolinist Buster P. Highman. McCrow's songs tend to be stranger, peaking with "Armageddon Over You," which makes personality types out of Hershey's miniatures, quotes Aerosmith, and mashes the Green Acres theme together with the main riff from Iron Man. Of course, "stranger" is a relative term-Boy Howdy being responsible for "I'll Come Back and Haunt You When I Die," among other songs.

Still, it's not all silly. There's genuine bite to the humor, and there's a traditionally-styled lonesome drunk country song, the odd but uplifting "Crow Can Fly" and the genuinely bile-filled "Northwest Indiana" that prove that The Mighty Lumberhorn can be serious without losing energy and creativity.

-Jeremy Berg

BJ McCrow-Lumberhorn, Vocals
Buster Highman-Mandolin, Vocals
James Hutton-Father of Geology
Uncle Cousin Dan-Jug, Washboard
Jeffro-American Tourister Drum Kit
Boy Howdy-Banjo, Guitar, Vocals
www.lumberhorn.com