DRIVIN' N' CRYIN'
''BEST OF SONGS''
APRIL 15 2016
34:23
**********
01 - Hot Wheels 02:45
02 - Out Here In The Middle Of Nowhere 02:07
03 - Turn 04:42
04 - Strangers 02:48
05 - Roll Away The Song 05:02
06 - Dirty 03:28
07 - Ain't Waitin' On Tomorrow 03:33
08 - Rem 04:10
09 - The Little Record Shop Just Around The Corner 02:37
10 - Space Eyes 03:05
**********
REVIEW
Joe Marchese, www.theseconddisc.com
In a career spanning almost thirty years on both independent and major labels, Drivin’ N’ Cryin’ has refused to be pigeonholed. The band, formed by Kevin (or Kevn) Kinney in 1985 has happily leaped from genre to genre, drawing on hard rock, country, pop, punk and other influences. Between June 2012 and January 2014, the band – now consisting of Kinney, founding member Tim Nielsen, Sadler Vaden and Dave V. Johnson – recorded a series of four EPs from which a tight, all-killer, no-filler collection has been culled. The simply-titled Best of Songs, on Nashville’s Plowboy Records label, is a vinyl release cleverly packaged in the style of a 1970s K-tel greatest hits compilation. And though these ten selections may not have been hits, longtime fans of the band might well find the songs among Drivin’s greatest. Those unfamiliar with the band’s history won’t be disappointed, either.
The four Songs EPs each touched on a different aspect of the band’s sound. As Kinney explained, the EPs served to “deconstruct” the group’s musical DNA, to “try to explain who we are and where we came from. So Songs from the Laundromat was kind of looking back to our early days on the Southern kudzu circuit. Songs About Cars, Space and the Ramones was based on our early roots in punk. Songs from the Psychedelic Time Clock was our tribute to our psychedelic roots. And Songs from the Turntable is who we are today, and what happens when you put all those influences together.” From this intriguing high concept, the band has crafted a breezily enjoyable LP that stands on its own.
The three tracks plucked from Songs About Cars, Space and the Ramones naturally touch on all three of those titular subjects. Melodic jangle pop meets tough rock on “Hot Wheels,” which conjures up the familiar images of summer, cars and girls. “Space Eyes” takes a different approach. The moody guitar-driven instrumental would feel right at home on a Quentin Tarantino soundtrack with its far-out spin on surf music. “Out Here in the Middle of Nowhere” underscores the Ramones part of the equation, with a breakneck, furious attack worthy of the punk heroes.
If these tracks harken back to pop days gone by, that’s no coincidence. So does the lone track reprised from Songs from the Psychedelic Time Clock. There’s more than a hint of Austin, Texas’ 13th Floor Elevators on the garage rave-up “The Little Record Store Just Around the Corner,” a psych-pop nugget with a subject that anyone reading this site should surely appreciate. Songs from the Laundromat offered the most aggressive aspects of the Drivin’ N’ Cryin’ sound as evidenced by the three tracks which appear on Best of Songs. Despite its origins in the Laundromat, the song entitled “Dirty” is happily so – a chugging blues-rocker with scorching guitar licks a-plenty with a swaggering, nearly Stones-esque lead vocal. “Ain’t Waitin’ on Tomorrow” is another fiery, aggressive, live-in-the-moment track emphasizing the band’s heavy roots with a hint of Tom Petty-esque vocals and some pure metal screaming. “R.E.M.” offers an affectionate and nostalgic tribute to the band’s Athens, Georgia brethren; “the biggest southern rock band I know is R.E.M.,” Kinney sings of the group that broke up in 2011.
Songs for the Turntable was intended to present a sonic picture of the band squarely in the present day and in doing so, shows a band that’s still vital. The straight-ahead guitar rock anthem “Turn” has a big chorus worthy of, well, Big Star; the Tom Petty comparisons might be apt, once more, on both the vocals and production of the tight, chiming rocker “Strangers.” Lyrically, too, the track would fit into any classic rock playlist with the tried-and-true jab at an ex: “With friends like you, who needs strangers?” Like “Turn,” “Roll Away the Song” espouses the virtues of looking forward and letting go of the past. It features a muscular, tough southern rock vibe with echoes of Lynyrd Skynyrd and “Sweet Home Alabama” in its potent riff and muscular but melodic playing. Of course, Drivin’ N Cryin’ has long occupied its own place in the annals of Southern rock, but the tip of the hat to Skynyrd is well-earned.
Though recorded with various producers including Kinney and Paul Ebersold, the ten tracks on Best of Songs coalesce into an album that’s both a treat for longtime fans and a solid introduction for those new to the band’s oeuvre. The 180-gram vinyl, too, offers a bold and warm sound that’s appropriate for this forward-looking yet unabashedly reflective band. Having distilled its own style into its individual elements, Drivin’ N’ Cryin’ is more than poised for the next stage in its musical evolution. Anyone giving a chance to this bright and brash collection will likely be ready to come along for the ride!
**********
BIOGRAPHY/AMG
Denise Sullivan
Formed in Atlanta in 1986, the hard-rocking, Southern roots music-steeped Drivin' n' Cryin' were never embraced on a national level, but have reigned supreme in the region during their tenure. Originally made up of singer/songwriter Kevn Kinney on guitar and vocals, Tim Nielsen on bass, and Paul Lenz on drums, the band's debut was the timeless hard rock/bluegrass fusion Scarred But Smarter (1986) on 688 Records, the label that grew out of the punk-era Atlanta club of the same name. The band followed with Whisper Tames the Lion in 1988 for Island, and replaced Lenz with Jeff Sullivan on drums. There were high hopes for Drivin' n' Cryin' at the time due to the success of R.E.M.; all things Southern were tipped to become the next big thing. But the band's uniquely Southern spin on rock was lost on the rest of the world.
Persevering with Mystery Road, with the addition of R.E.M. guitar roadie Buren Fowler on lead guitar, the band didn't alter its style all that much. For Fly Me Courageous (1990), the band finally took on the heavy metal mantle and ended up with a good hard rock record, with the odd folk track thrown in. The result was perhaps shocking and less than fashionable in the years when alternative music was just coming into its own. The greatest strength of Drivin' n' Cryin' was as a live band, as they toured tirelessly around the South, drawing an enthusiastic, college-age audience. A Drivin' n' Cryin' show in Atlanta had to be seen to be believed -- the sound of the crowd singing along would actually drown out Kinney's own unusually strong voice. That same year, Kinney recorded the beautiful acoustic folk LP MacDougal Blues for Island.
Smoke, the next album from Drivin' n' Cryin', was released by Island in 1993 and ultimately finished the band's liaison with the label. It was followed by another, even sparer solo album by Kinney, Down Out Law (Mammoth) in 1994. He accompanied his solo releases by touring with R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck, who produced the first album, while he and the band also filled the gap between their fifth and sixth records performing acoustic dates throughout the South.
By the time the more gentle Wrapped in Sky, the band's Geffen debut in 1996, hit the shelves, Drivin' n' Cryin' were nearly forgotten -- lost in the void where many bands of their generation would find themselves in the wake of grunge. Kinney, Nielsen, and Sullivan held strong -- with the addition of Joey Huffman on keyboards for Wrapped in Sky. Fowler left the fold shortly thereafter, but the band continued to record, releasing the self-titled Drivin' N' Cryin' in 1997. A live set, The Essential Live Drivin' n' Cryin', showed up in 1999. Next up was a four-song EP, Detroit City Rock, in 2003, followed by another studio album, The Great American Bubble Factory, in 2009.
Embracing the immediacy and thematic possibilities of the EP format, the band formed its own label, New Records, and began issuing a series of five-song EPs, beginning with Songs from the Laundromat in 2012. A second EP, Songs About Cars, Space and the Ramones, also appeared in 2012. Early 2013 brought the third of four planned EPs Songs from the Psychedelic Time Clock, a collection of throwbacks to the early days of garage and 60's psyche.
**********
WEBSITE
**********
TO THE TOP
**********
''BEST OF SONGS''
APRIL 15 2016
34:23
**********
01 - Hot Wheels 02:45
02 - Out Here In The Middle Of Nowhere 02:07
03 - Turn 04:42
04 - Strangers 02:48
05 - Roll Away The Song 05:02
06 - Dirty 03:28
07 - Ain't Waitin' On Tomorrow 03:33
08 - Rem 04:10
09 - The Little Record Shop Just Around The Corner 02:37
10 - Space Eyes 03:05
**********
REVIEW
Joe Marchese, www.theseconddisc.com
In a career spanning almost thirty years on both independent and major labels, Drivin’ N’ Cryin’ has refused to be pigeonholed. The band, formed by Kevin (or Kevn) Kinney in 1985 has happily leaped from genre to genre, drawing on hard rock, country, pop, punk and other influences. Between June 2012 and January 2014, the band – now consisting of Kinney, founding member Tim Nielsen, Sadler Vaden and Dave V. Johnson – recorded a series of four EPs from which a tight, all-killer, no-filler collection has been culled. The simply-titled Best of Songs, on Nashville’s Plowboy Records label, is a vinyl release cleverly packaged in the style of a 1970s K-tel greatest hits compilation. And though these ten selections may not have been hits, longtime fans of the band might well find the songs among Drivin’s greatest. Those unfamiliar with the band’s history won’t be disappointed, either.
The four Songs EPs each touched on a different aspect of the band’s sound. As Kinney explained, the EPs served to “deconstruct” the group’s musical DNA, to “try to explain who we are and where we came from. So Songs from the Laundromat was kind of looking back to our early days on the Southern kudzu circuit. Songs About Cars, Space and the Ramones was based on our early roots in punk. Songs from the Psychedelic Time Clock was our tribute to our psychedelic roots. And Songs from the Turntable is who we are today, and what happens when you put all those influences together.” From this intriguing high concept, the band has crafted a breezily enjoyable LP that stands on its own.
The three tracks plucked from Songs About Cars, Space and the Ramones naturally touch on all three of those titular subjects. Melodic jangle pop meets tough rock on “Hot Wheels,” which conjures up the familiar images of summer, cars and girls. “Space Eyes” takes a different approach. The moody guitar-driven instrumental would feel right at home on a Quentin Tarantino soundtrack with its far-out spin on surf music. “Out Here in the Middle of Nowhere” underscores the Ramones part of the equation, with a breakneck, furious attack worthy of the punk heroes.
If these tracks harken back to pop days gone by, that’s no coincidence. So does the lone track reprised from Songs from the Psychedelic Time Clock. There’s more than a hint of Austin, Texas’ 13th Floor Elevators on the garage rave-up “The Little Record Store Just Around the Corner,” a psych-pop nugget with a subject that anyone reading this site should surely appreciate. Songs from the Laundromat offered the most aggressive aspects of the Drivin’ N’ Cryin’ sound as evidenced by the three tracks which appear on Best of Songs. Despite its origins in the Laundromat, the song entitled “Dirty” is happily so – a chugging blues-rocker with scorching guitar licks a-plenty with a swaggering, nearly Stones-esque lead vocal. “Ain’t Waitin’ on Tomorrow” is another fiery, aggressive, live-in-the-moment track emphasizing the band’s heavy roots with a hint of Tom Petty-esque vocals and some pure metal screaming. “R.E.M.” offers an affectionate and nostalgic tribute to the band’s Athens, Georgia brethren; “the biggest southern rock band I know is R.E.M.,” Kinney sings of the group that broke up in 2011.
Songs for the Turntable was intended to present a sonic picture of the band squarely in the present day and in doing so, shows a band that’s still vital. The straight-ahead guitar rock anthem “Turn” has a big chorus worthy of, well, Big Star; the Tom Petty comparisons might be apt, once more, on both the vocals and production of the tight, chiming rocker “Strangers.” Lyrically, too, the track would fit into any classic rock playlist with the tried-and-true jab at an ex: “With friends like you, who needs strangers?” Like “Turn,” “Roll Away the Song” espouses the virtues of looking forward and letting go of the past. It features a muscular, tough southern rock vibe with echoes of Lynyrd Skynyrd and “Sweet Home Alabama” in its potent riff and muscular but melodic playing. Of course, Drivin’ N Cryin’ has long occupied its own place in the annals of Southern rock, but the tip of the hat to Skynyrd is well-earned.
Though recorded with various producers including Kinney and Paul Ebersold, the ten tracks on Best of Songs coalesce into an album that’s both a treat for longtime fans and a solid introduction for those new to the band’s oeuvre. The 180-gram vinyl, too, offers a bold and warm sound that’s appropriate for this forward-looking yet unabashedly reflective band. Having distilled its own style into its individual elements, Drivin’ N’ Cryin’ is more than poised for the next stage in its musical evolution. Anyone giving a chance to this bright and brash collection will likely be ready to come along for the ride!
**********
BIOGRAPHY/AMG
Denise Sullivan
Formed in Atlanta in 1986, the hard-rocking, Southern roots music-steeped Drivin' n' Cryin' were never embraced on a national level, but have reigned supreme in the region during their tenure. Originally made up of singer/songwriter Kevn Kinney on guitar and vocals, Tim Nielsen on bass, and Paul Lenz on drums, the band's debut was the timeless hard rock/bluegrass fusion Scarred But Smarter (1986) on 688 Records, the label that grew out of the punk-era Atlanta club of the same name. The band followed with Whisper Tames the Lion in 1988 for Island, and replaced Lenz with Jeff Sullivan on drums. There were high hopes for Drivin' n' Cryin' at the time due to the success of R.E.M.; all things Southern were tipped to become the next big thing. But the band's uniquely Southern spin on rock was lost on the rest of the world.
Persevering with Mystery Road, with the addition of R.E.M. guitar roadie Buren Fowler on lead guitar, the band didn't alter its style all that much. For Fly Me Courageous (1990), the band finally took on the heavy metal mantle and ended up with a good hard rock record, with the odd folk track thrown in. The result was perhaps shocking and less than fashionable in the years when alternative music was just coming into its own. The greatest strength of Drivin' n' Cryin' was as a live band, as they toured tirelessly around the South, drawing an enthusiastic, college-age audience. A Drivin' n' Cryin' show in Atlanta had to be seen to be believed -- the sound of the crowd singing along would actually drown out Kinney's own unusually strong voice. That same year, Kinney recorded the beautiful acoustic folk LP MacDougal Blues for Island.
Smoke, the next album from Drivin' n' Cryin', was released by Island in 1993 and ultimately finished the band's liaison with the label. It was followed by another, even sparer solo album by Kinney, Down Out Law (Mammoth) in 1994. He accompanied his solo releases by touring with R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck, who produced the first album, while he and the band also filled the gap between their fifth and sixth records performing acoustic dates throughout the South.
By the time the more gentle Wrapped in Sky, the band's Geffen debut in 1996, hit the shelves, Drivin' n' Cryin' were nearly forgotten -- lost in the void where many bands of their generation would find themselves in the wake of grunge. Kinney, Nielsen, and Sullivan held strong -- with the addition of Joey Huffman on keyboards for Wrapped in Sky. Fowler left the fold shortly thereafter, but the band continued to record, releasing the self-titled Drivin' N' Cryin' in 1997. A live set, The Essential Live Drivin' n' Cryin', showed up in 1999. Next up was a four-song EP, Detroit City Rock, in 2003, followed by another studio album, The Great American Bubble Factory, in 2009.
Embracing the immediacy and thematic possibilities of the EP format, the band formed its own label, New Records, and began issuing a series of five-song EPs, beginning with Songs from the Laundromat in 2012. A second EP, Songs About Cars, Space and the Ramones, also appeared in 2012. Early 2013 brought the third of four planned EPs Songs from the Psychedelic Time Clock, a collection of throwbacks to the early days of garage and 60's psyche.
**********
WEBSITE
**********
TO THE TOP
**********
1 comment :
Terrific cover! Great stuff - thanks!
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