Drunken Barn Dance: Grey Buried
When R.E.M. decided to name themselves R.E.M., it was because they felt that name drew no connotation as to what the band would sound like. That can not be said for Drunken Barn Dance. Being named Drunken Barn Dance immediately makes me think of sloppily played country music similar to Bruce Springsteen‘s We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions. Unfortunately that is not quite the music that Drunken Barn Dance delivers on their sophomore album, Grey Buried.
Fortunately, what Drunken Barn Dance does deliver is music that is pretty good. Most broadly generalized, it can be described as americana but the term americana evokes memories of John Fogerty and Bob Dylan and that’s not exactly what Drunken Barn Dance sounds like either. “Evelyn Wears a Tiara” sounds like Death Cab for Cutie covering a Bright Eyes‘ tune. “No Love” sounds like The Mountain Goats covering one of The Hold Steady‘s slower songs.
While the “drunken” and the “barn” part of the bands name is evident, the “dance” never quite comes to fruition. The album’s opening track “The Last Desperate Stand of the Last Fair Man” is by far the album’s most energetic track, yet it does not get that raucous country/folk feel. Maybe it is because I took the band’s name so literally that I feel disappointed by Grey Buried but in the end, the album is much more of a downer than one would expect from a band called Drunken Barn Dance.
Rating: 5.3/10
MP3: Drunken Barn Dance “No Love”
Buy: iTunes
Drunken Barn Dance: Grey Buried
