The critics speak

Hey, look what's on page 28 of the November 2004 issue of Rick's Cafe, the Madison music trade monthly: a review of the Junkers' 2003 release Live Characters Nightly! It's a pretty good review, too: 16 out of 20 stars. I don't see Rick's reviews online, so I'll key it in fer ya.

I see the reviewer's point about "(Baby Let Me Be Your) Desert Storm" not fitting the CD, but one of the things I was trying to do with the track was update the long country-music tradition of war ballads, like "Battle of New Orleans" and "Ballad of the Green Berets."

Being compared to Lester "Roadhog" Moran and the Cadillac Cowboys is the highest praise I can imagine.

Remember, Junkers CDs make great holiday gifts! Write me for details about how to get your Gramma copies of Live Characters Nightly and the Junkers' 2001 release Hunker Down.

THE JUNKERS
Live Characters Nightly
2003 Self-Release

Style: Honky-tonk country
Titles: Tie One On (2:16) Friend of the Family (2:38) I Always Cry at Divorces (3:19) Cowboy La Cage Aux Follies [sic] (2:22) Grizzly (3:43) Pretty Cups and Saucers (3:35) Bad Dog (2:40) Saturday Morning Cartoon (2:39) It's Only Funny (3:00) Too Drunk For Church (2:51) Hollow Log (3:58) Desert Storm (2:56)

Musicianship: ***
Composition: ****
Lyrics/Interpretation: ****
Production: ***
Packaging: **
Total 16

The Junkers were a great country band and it's really unfortunate that they broke up. They played honky-tonk country like nobody else. You can almost hear the scratches on your grandma's Hank Williams, Ernest Tubb, and Hank Thompson 78s while listening to this CD. A real treat would be to hear this on vinyl.

Live Characters Nightly is a pretty straightforward recording without a lot of Pro Tools tricks. Start the tape and let it roll, boys! The musicianship is not first-rate like most recorded country today, but it's suitable for this style of music, with the drums appropriately audible.

Two cuts that truly stand out are "Tie One On" and "Too Drunk for Church," with suberb instrumentation and very funny, classic country lyrics. Other tracks such as "Cowboy La Cage Aux Follies [sic]" (about cross-dressing country singers), "Grizzly" (swamp rock licks a la James Burton), and "Friend of the Family" are well-crafted songs that could have been recorded in the early fifties yet do not sound dated. This album is like taking a trip back in time to hear the way country music started out, and why it was called "hillbilly" music.

The only clunker is "Desert Storm," a song about service people in love in the Middle East, which doesn't seem to fit the CD. The packaging is minimal like the recordings. If readers loved Lester Moran and the Cadillac Cowboys they will love Live Characters Nightly.

Mighty fine, boys, mighty fine!

Andy Ziehli