Jun. 24, 2009 - Issue #714: The Rural Alberta Advantage

Patterson Hood (Follow the Tracks)

Patterson Hood (Follow the Tracks)
Patterson Hood (Follow the Tracks) {recordings_bands_mg} Patterson Hood (Follow the Tracks) {/recordings_bands_mg}
, Patterson Hood (Follow the Tracks)

Patterson Hood's day job is as one of the songwriters in the Drive-By Truckers, where he shares the heavy loads. On his second solo album, though, Hood bears the burden on his own, and it's a stunning effort as he works his way through a series of feelings that are often so conflicted that it's impossible to simply sit back and listen without actively trying to decipher the meanings behind the words. (The title track is a perfect example of this—it simply feels strange and a little wrong to listen to the opening lines without trying to make sense of them: "I killed Oscar, shot him in the head / Put the gun in his mouth, watched his brains fly out.") As heavy as the words (and the music) can be, though, it's not all dark clouds and thunderstorms here; Hood can be downright sentimental when the mood strikes. In the end, it's his ability to walk the line, weighting the record towards one side or the other at various times, that gives Murdering Oscar the feel of a life worn in, a little faded with a hole or two torn in it, but one that is well-worth spending some time visiting.

Follow the Tracks

Roundup:

Murdering Oscar (and other love songs) at times recalls Hood’s work with his regular band, the Drive-By Truckers, but where that group shares the songwriting and vocals, Murdering Oscar is fully Hood’s, and it’s a remarkably cohesive album, one song working as a counterpoint to the next while others sit together like progressive chapters in a book. What strikes the most is perhaps the power that develops as the album plays out track by track, each one somehow influencing the next while affecting memories of the previous song. With Murdering Oscar, Hood has made himself one hell of an album. V

Patterson Hood
Murdering Oscar (and other love songs) 
(Ruth St.)

 

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