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Written
by Mike Yoder, posted by blog admin
Russ
Still and the Moonshiners’ latest album, Still Cookin’, is the fourth in a
series of releases that has established this six member outfit as one of the
most pre-eminent interpreters of Southern and country rock traditions active
today. Still, the band leader, is the band’s driving songwriting force and
credited with writing eight out of the album’s nine tracks on his own. The one
co-write on this album, “Juanita”, fits in quite nicely with the rest of the
album. Taken as a whole, Still Cookin’ does illustrate a band firing on all cylinders
and not yet approaching that point where the bloom comes off the rose, leaving
even some of the best bands sounding tired and staid. Russ Still and his collaborators
continuing to approach music making with all the exuberance and freshness that
has defined their work from the first and it’s wrapped up with super production
values further enhancing the material.
“Promised
Land” is the sort of first song that albums of this ilk require and the band
does a memorable job of balancing looseness and confidence. The guitar work
doesn’t busy itself trying to fill every second of sonic real estate and that
same tastefulness of presentation extends to the other instruments as well as
the remainder of the album. “Long Way from Home” has much more of an acoustic
base than the first song, but it still sparks to electric life at all the right
points. Still does an excellent job selling hard luck and loneliness without
ever sounding too overwrought. “Glorine’s” comes off great thanks to a little
added raucousness than we heard in the aforementioned songs and Still responds
to that mood with some extra bite in his singing. The album’s finest foray into
ballad territory comes with the simply titled “I Can’t”. Experienced listeners
might already know some of the songwriting directions Still is likely to take
and he doesn’t disappoint, but the joy is found in hearing him get there. The
song and performance alike aspire to emotional highs that the arrangement and
vocal alike reach with little difficulty.
“Gone
Fishin’” is definitely one of the more commercial moments on Still Cookin’, but
even here the band fails to pander. It isn’t rocket science, but it certainly
takes an experienced hand to pluck phrases from our sharing lexicon and fashion
entertaining songs around that language. Still succeeds splendidly here. The
album’s sole co-credit comes, as mentioned earlier, with the song “Juanita” and
it provides an unexpectedly anthemic moment late in the album that will
definitely win over live audiences. “Workin’ Class Hunter” is a simmering,
moody number late in the album with enough bluesy growl under its breath to
keep the listener tense and expecting an even deeper bite to come at any
moment. Still Cookin’ does show a band that, after a handful of albums and
countless miles, shows no signs of tiring out. Russ Still and the Moonshiners
are gathering momentum still and looking to impress anyone willing to give them
a chance.
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