Dirty, dark, angry,
introspective….all are applicable adjectives to put to Chris Knight’s
new record Enough Rope. This was a record that I was not
too sold on by the single. Now mind you, there aren’t many artists
I am a true ‘fan’ of, but of Chris Knight, I am a fan. That said I
was a disappointed fan by the single.
Because I am a fan, it is my obligation to buy his work and give it a
full shakedown. My first thought was – who’s the so-and-so that
chose that song to spotlight this record? Is it a good song?
Sure. Is it the best/most catchy/truest to form/yada-yada?
Heck no! A few others come to mind: “Rural Route”, “Jack Blue”,
and/or “Dirt” front-run that contest in my mind but evidently someone
liked “Up From The Hill” enough to send it out to the radio folks.
I had a friend, also a Chris Knight fan who said to me late one evening,
“did you get the new Knight CD? I don’t like it.” I had
already ordered it but not yet received it. So by the first two
contacts with this record, I was prepared for the fourth album to
finally be his slump.
Let’s just say that I am proudly still a fan. Time to explain why:
"Jack Blue" kicks ass! One of the greater lines Knight has ever
penned is so easy to miss, but so awesome when you catch it:
"[Doc said]
Don’t go looking for Jack Blue
Here’s some thread and a needle in case you do"
I guess that’s what
the Nashville press was all over when speaking of Chris’ self titled
Debut. Real, a little dark, and just what we need.
Let me pause for just a second. I forgot that I was writing this
and just enjoying listening to the CD for the 50th-or-so time. I
should get back to this, huh?
“Cry Lonely” is a sharing of emotions that Knight has never ventured
into previously. It’s vulnerable in a way that his other songs
usually don’t dare. The protagonist is the broken hearted savior
for the subject and knows it but doesn’t know how to not be just that.
That and, as usual, producer Gary Nicholson, tweaked out all of the
warmth and depth that a song like this needs to sound better years down
the road.
Faintly familiar as something that could have been on the Pretty Good
Guy record, “Saved by Love” is classically Chris Knight. Again,
the production on this track serves it masterfully. Loose drums,
warm lead guitar lines and catchy.
Love Rock and Roll? Obviously so does Chris Knight and Austin
Cunningham, the principally credited co-author. “River Road” kicks
out the jams MC5-style. It’s simply a great song about a dirty
little bar on the side of the road. Who hasn’t drank a cold beer
at the bar he’s talking about? Shoot, I may have been in the band
he’s describing:
"The band in the
corner don’t do nothing but Rock and Roll
Ain’t learned one new song since Bad to the Bone"
All that and this
song also acts as the definition of ‘great tone’ – from the amp that’s
on the verge of smokin’, the bass guitar is tight and punchy, and the
drums are pure and cleanly imperfect. My only quibble is that the
bass could have been bumped just a hair to round out the bottom
registers a bit.
“Rural Route” is a sad song about a man who lost his mother and goes
back to say goodbye. It’s an adroitly written song about how you can
never go home once it’s all over. I’ll tell you no more other than
go check it out for yourselves.
“Dirt“ is one hateful song. It is the first song that I’ve ever
heard take a tone like this. My first thought was he’s yelling.
Then I got into the lyrics a little deeper. He has every right to
drop an s-bomb. Mellencamp could only dream of writing a song with
this much power to change minds about altering rural life. This
track should be the theme-song for every small town forced into
industry.
“Up From The River” is the aforementioned single. It’s a good
song, but I’ve already heard six songs that are just a bit better.
But truth be told, if this is the least of this record, then all is a-ok
in my book.
I just don’t see Chris Knight as a humorist of any sort. I guess I
was wrong. “Bridle on a Bull” is one of those songs that could
have been a Guy Clark or Todd Snider song. Its deadpan is made
funnier whilst sandwiched between the two songs at its flanks.
“Old Man” is a simple song. A great song about a man who is
already old and acceptant of his station in life. Just like the
protagonist would believe, it says what it does and does what it says.
As an epilogue to the original “William”, “William’s Son” succeeds
magnificently. But what it is in reality, is what “If I Were You”
was to Pretty Good Guy. It’s painful, raw, sincere, and has
more to offer than its surface would lead. I’ll tell you no more.
Again, acquire it.
“To Get Back Home” is a story of life in dingy bars and crapholes,
playing music and missing your special girl back home. This author
knows this one first hand. Listen up, this is everything that
Foreigner’s “Jukebox Hero” omits.
“Too Close to Home” and the album closer “Enough Rope” are the kinds of
songs that only Chris Knight can write. Truly American,
illustrated in a way that the media doesn’t report on. These songs
are the stories that line the streets of Smalltown, USA. The
storylines differ dramatically, but both hit you solidly in the chest –
right where it matters.
Don’t expect this records greatness to be immediately evident.
Give it a few spins first. It, like so many things, gets better
with time. It’s hard to grade this one, as my last was such an
instant ‘A+’. This review started out to report a solid ‘B’ , but
I think that with time, it has grown to an ‘A’ record. While I’m
not normally a fan of slickly-produced anything, especially my records,
this one could have used just a hair more polish. But, none of
that takes away from the base color that lies just slightly beneath the
clear-coat.
Grade: A
Corey Sharek, October, 2006
1. Jack Blue
2. Cry lonely
3. Saved By Love
4. River Road
5. Rural Route
6. Dirt
7. Up From The Hill
8. Bridle On A Bull
9. Old Man
10. William's Son
11. Too Close To Home
12. To Get Back Home
13. Enough Rope
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