Album: “Wide Swing Tremolo”

Description

Son Volt: Jay Farrar (vocals, guitar, dulcimer, harmonica, piano, electric piano, organ, chamberlain); Dave Boquist (guitar, lap steel guitar, fiddle, viola); Jim Boquist (slide guitar, piano, bass, background vocals); Mike Heidorn (drums, percussion). <p>Additional personnel: Eric Heywood (pedal steel guitar); Dave Barbe (rattle). <p>Throughout the '90s, as the debate over relative supremacy raged between Uncle Tupelo fans, Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy led their post-Tupelo combos down paths not dissimilar to those they followed in their NO DEPRESSION days. Farrar, arguably the more cerebral of the two, led Son Volt through the crowded jungle of Americana with his abstract poetic lyrics and folk-rock heart. Son Volt's third album puts aside the downcast traditionalism of its predecessor for a more electrically charged sound that harks back to--dare we say it?--Tupelo days. There are some traditional touches, like the folky instrumental "Chanty" and the stark, acoustic ballad "Carry You Down," but it's the ringing guitars and breathless rhythms of tunes like "Straightface" that carry Farrar's elliptical, idiosyncratic country-rock constructions on WIDE SWING TREMOLO.