beauty and the macabre and the roadside graves

Red Blondehead got a little taste of New Jersey last weekend when The Roadside Graves drove through Birmingham to play with Blue Mountain. Needless to say, Blondehead was left happy and hankerin' for more. So.... I picked up a copy of their latest release, No One Will Know Where You've Been and was immediately smitten. These fellas play and record as a seven-piece and so reasonably have a very full sound. There's always something to entice the ear, whether it is clever lyrics delivered in lead singer John Gleason's shaky vocals or a sweet piano fill c/o Mike DeBlasio.

I can't pretend to always understand the lyrics on this record, and maybe that's a good thing since a quick press search turns up accounts of Gleason' inherent misogyny. I like what I can hear, though. Any potentially offensive lyric I've heard stands out moreso for its gritty and sensual realism--almost Faulknerian in its ability to curse its subject and marvel at it in fascination simultaneously.

Ah, the wonderful feeling of finding a record among countless others that you can really get into. Here's the opener, and probably my favorite track:

Family and Friends

This track is thematically and musically reminiscent of one of my favorite songs from Music from Big Pink. Can anyone guess which one?!

The Black Hills

And finally, one I can make out all the words to and one to make out to:

Live Slow

Pick up your copy here. You'll have a hard time putting it down, I'll bet.