Art country? Country noir? I’m not sure how to define Andy Friedman’s new record Weary Things, his first with the spectacularly successful The Other Failures. The record is restrained letting Friedman’s conversational lyrics play across an eerie sounding background that falls closest to Mr. Dylan circa Time Out of Mind. Friedman’s acoustic guitar is often front and center steering the songs as they amble, twist, and turn at his lyrical whim. Occasional flourishes of electric and steel guitars create the ambience, but it’s the rhythm section that keeps Friedman’s vision held together with their unobtrusive, yet emotive playing. A couple songs rock out, revealing the source material for Friedman & the Failures legendary live shows.
However, it is the longest track on the record “Freddy’s Backroom†that is the real masterpiece here. The song rolls on for a quick eight minutes that describes a favorite bar, free shots, and the imminent destruction of said bar. Friedman describes the whole bar and then stops and lets you hear what it sounds like (a mix of conversations is thrown onto the track). He then compares the bar to the cover of a Jerry Jeff Walker album (and a clip of a Jerry Jeff song is supplied). The song features a laundry list of descriptions of various aspects of the bar that makes it sound like an amalgam of all my favorite hometown bars. Finally six and a half minutes in, Friedman finally hits on what serves as a chorus for the song “they’re gonna tear down Freddy’s/ they’re gonna tear down Hank’s saloon/ like crickets under rocks/ were all gonna hop to Bennigan’s backroom.†It’s pretty awesome check him out here
http://www.myspace.com/otherfailures
About the author: Specializes in Dead, Drunk, and Nakedness..... Former College Radio DJ and Current Craft Beer Nerd