jianantonic | Something a little more positive

While I was in Oregon, Kerry reminded me that Crooked Still's new album, Still Crooked, had been released. I ordered it and stuck it in my car stereo as soon as I got back to Charlottesville. My guess is that they chose the title they did for this album to emphasize that they're still the same band we've known and loved for two albums, even though they had a bit of a lineup shakeup last year, with Rushad Eggleston departing and a new cellist and the addition of a fiddle player coming in when he left.

Well, here's the thing. They don't sound the same.

But it's not Rushad's cello that's noticeably absent; it's just that their sound is really different on this album. The songs they recorded, while trad as usual (with two originals), are not well-known trad songs, and the album is much more somber than their first two, which are largely high-energy and fast-paced.

I hate to say it, but I like it less. I love the energy of their first two albums, and this one sort of depressed me at first.

But I kept listening to it.

And now I love it. It's a great album, it just takes some warming up to.

So, I recommend getting it, and then listening to it until you love it. I promise it will grow on you. I can't wait to see them at FRFF. And I bet some of their songs will be more energetic when performed live, too.

McKenzie says the rice is done, and that it's really tasty. Damn.

Peace.