Jan. 17, 2013 - Issue #900: The ongoing musical evolution of Hannah Georgas
Come Cry With Me
Daniel Romano {recordings_bands_mg} Come Cry With Me {/recordings_bands_mg}
Normaltown,
4
Daniel Romano is probably best known for some combination of the following: founding rock/punk outfit Attack in Black, playing with (and co-producing) Dallas Green's City and Colour and crafting clever, folksy songs with Julie Doiron and Frederick Squire.That's a varied (and collaborative!) CV, but Romano's third solo album, Come Cry With Me, suggests his true calling has always been reclaiming the open-sky heartbreak of classic country music.
Its 10 songs sound like they were recorded on a lonesome Sunday afternoon at some backwater bar, chickenwire stretched across the stage: this is sad-cowboy music, tear-in-your-beer songwriting made with a strict adherence to AM country style. The darker moments of Gram Parsons' Grievous Angel haunt these songs: glance at the back and be greeted with titles like "Two Pillow Sleeper," "I'm Not Crying Over You" and "He Let Her Memory Go (Wild)." Somebody, buy Romano another round. Sounds like he needs it.
The instrumentation—winsome harmonies, crystalline and omnipresent slide guitar, sad sack strums and precise, wagon-wheel drumming—holds a steady tone throughout most of the album. It could slip into background repetition if it wasn't being bolstered by Romano's sharp lyricism. Opener "Middle Child" cries for a mama who abandoned just the second of three children; the protagonist in "I'm Not Crying Over You" knows his girl will come back when she realizes all his tears are "just a role he's workin' on"; "Chicken Bill" finds Romano channeling Johnny Cash. Sometimes, it feels a little tongue in cheek: "When I Was Abroad" could be the tale of a nostalgic sailor or a drag queen, depending on whether or not you take its lyrics sincerely. The final track, "A New Love (Can Be Found)," is the highlight, a gorgeous, heartbroken closer stripped down to a lone, live guitar and ghostly, barely there backing vocal.
This is a classic country album. It's been made in a modern era, but with a genuine affection for the genre's heyday. With that in mind, Come Cry WIth Me is about the best invitation you'll get these days. I recommend you take him up on it. vueweekly.com comments: powered by Disqus
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