Gob Iron - Death Songs For The Living Album Review

Gob Iron
Death Songs For The Living
Album Review

Gob Iron (slang for harmonica in British folk circles) is a band formed by Uncle Tupelo's Jay Farrar and Varnaline's Anders Parker. The 10 songs here were actually recorded in a five day slug (postponing the recording of the new Son Volt album), and are mostly traditional folk songs, extensively rewritten on the fly, and are accompanied by nine short instrumentals.

Jay Farrar has never been a smile-a-minute, and the theme running through all of the songs is one of death, something they realised after the recording. So, this isn't a happy album, but what it is is a wonderfully resonant hard-edged blues-folk take on alt.country. Farrar's Uncle Tupelo always had an authenticity that Jeff Tweedy lacked, and Gob Iron is a world away from Wilco. Its feel is like a hand-worn chisel, sharp and comforting, the two voices full of soul and sincerity - good earnest craft built on, and respecting, an American tradition. The album also contains a Jay Farrar original, Buzz and Grind, which fits in seamlessly. One to seek out.

4/5

Mike Rea