Vegan Fucking Country
Characterised as ‘outlaw country’ on Shook’s Facebook page,
that is near enough but it is also straight Country, good old-fashioned Country
– with an edge; with a freshness that is both authentic and original –
something in the, respectively, vocal drawl and lyrical content, perhaps also
the contemporary ‘outlaw’ attributes of being a vegan, or perhaps to put it in
her own fuller context: But full
disclosure, I'm a fucking civil rights activist, and I'm a bisexual, and I'm an
atheist, and I'm a vegan, you know what I mean? That's a whole lot of
non-redneck shit right there.
So not redneck outlaw old time Country, but vegan outlaw
country. And it is fucking good, to take a leaf from her own linguistic book
where 10th track is titled Fuck
Up, though this is the only one on the album not self-penned, being written
rather by drummer John Howie, Jr. But it is like the rest of the songs: Country
rock, really, cowboy guitars and rock guitars, mentions of whippoorwill and whiskey as
on second track Heal Me. The lap
steel of Phil Sullivan on the album’s title track extends the Country theme,
Shook’s vocal offering such an unadorned yet perfect Country inflection, and
the self-deprecation of the lyrics ringing honest. This is a great track.
‘New’ Country is alive and well from the likes of Angaleena
Presley, recently reviewed here, and this excellent roots album from Sarah
Shook, the latter sticking more to rockier, if vegan, meatiness. A homage to DY
titled Dwight Yoakam furthers the strong
sense of an innate allegiance to the authenticities of Country music, new and
old, and this drawled ballad with those occasional classic Big C vocal inflections
is also a great track. They are all great. A great band in support. It is a
great album.
You can get it here.
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