\u201cSat down at the office to make ends meet
They gave me a desk and a paycheck a week
Thirty years at the company, I walked out the door
Because nobody hears what I say anymore\u201d <\/p>\n
So opens Destination Blues<\/i>, the superb 2013 album from Long Island\u2019s own Butchers Blind. The opening verse is sung a cappella, with frontman\/guitarist\/composer Pete Mancini\u2019s resigned lead vocal complemented by harmonies from drummer Paul Cianciaruso. Guitar, bass, drums and fiddle enter with the second verse to carry you through a genuinely desolate tale of economic and personal dissolution that ends with another a cappella verse, if anything sadder than the first.<\/p>\n
Mancini\u2019s tunes, brought to life by a group that includes Cianciaruso on drums, Brian Reilly on bass, and various guests on electric guitar, fiddle, Hammond organ and mandolin, deliver a downcast yet compelling strain of Americana, with a strong Jeff Tweedy\/Wilco influence heard in Mancini\u2019s vocals and flavorings of acts like The Band, the Jayhawks and Gram Parsons in the music.<\/p>\n
The blues referenced in the title are felt throughout this album, which is dotted with moments and images of dislocation and defeat. Mancini\u2019s vocals resonate with a low-key desperation that\u2019s more resigned than angry, though. \u201cThis is just the way it is,\u201d his tone implies again and again, \u201cand all we can do is try to deal with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Russ Seeger\u2019s fiddle adds an appropriately mournful touch to opener \u201cNobody Hears What I Say Anymore\u201d before \u201cTear It Down\u201d picks up the tempo, led by jangly guitars and an assertive, cymbal-heavy rhythm section. \u201cSpend your whole life listening and never make a sound\u201d says the again-voiceless narrator, eventually advising the listener to \u201cSettle down and make peace with what you\u2019ve made.\u201d<\/p>\n
Third track \u201cOPP\u201d carries echoes of the Gin Blossoms\u2019 occasional country-rock leanings with more jangly twin guitars. \u201cTalk about other peoples\u2019 problems \/ Drink and think of ways we can solve them \/ But there\u2019s nothing we can do\u201d goes the refrain, that somehow ends up feeling exhausted but not despairing, finding some solace in camaraderie. The title track ambles along next with this matter-of-fact advice: \u201cFind some peace between the lines \/ Don\u2019t let change pull you under \/ Destinations bleed you dry\u2026\u201d <\/p>\n
There\u2019s a lot to recommend through the latter two-thirds of the album\u2014the lesson in trust offered by \u201cHonestly,\u201d the tart acoustic kiss-off of \u201cDrowned,\u201d the dirge-like \u201cSelfish Silent Films,\u201d and the tranquilized country-rock closer \u201cBurn Up Bright (Lower East Side),\u201d with its Ryan Adams-meets-The Cowboy Junkies vibe. But two highlights stand out.<\/p>\n
The Pettyesque \u201cEnough Already Anyway,\u201d the most upbeat tune here, brings the jangle and world-weary vocals to bear on an upbeat tune that\u2019s a tribute to an unidentified musical hero, talking about how the narrator wishes he could have met him, but that\u2019s okay because \u201cYou\u2019ve given me enough already anyway.\u201d It\u2019s a generous sentiment that feels almost out of place in today\u2019s entitled world.<\/p>\n
Still, albums like this one, full of understated craft and artistry, can turn either way on a single phrase or moment. For this listener, it was the second verse of the philosophical character study \u201cCollege Town\u201d that sealed the deal:<\/p>\n
\u201cSettled down in a smaller room, miles away from home
Lights fluorescent called her name, told her where to go
Bible black hair, cross to bear, disconnected look on her face
Vodka drinks made her think that she got away\u201d <\/p>\n
Four simple lines and I don\u2019t just know<\/i> this character, I\u2019m invested<\/i>. I want to write an entire story about her life before, during and after this moment. That, my friends, is terrific songwriting.<\/p>\n
Butchers Blind are part of a Long Island scene that I\u2019ve become familiar with in recent years via contemporaries like Bryan Gallo<\/a>, Robert Bruey<\/a> and Jean-Paul Vest (Last Charge Of The Light Horse<\/a>). I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s something in the water out there, but you can add Butchers Blind to the list of top-notch talent lurking just down the LIE. Destination Blues<\/i> is an album that stays with you long after the music finishes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":32351,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[9623],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-44104","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-butchers-blind","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/44104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/44104\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=44104"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=44104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}