After searching for a new creative focus during the first half of the new millennium with a handful of disappointing solo albums,
Jay Farrar
finally hit a groove again by taking a step backward and reviving his band
Son Volt
on the 2005 album
Okemah and the Melody of Riot
.
Okemah
was
Farrar
's strongest music since
's 1995 debut, and in 2006 he once again played to his strengths by gesturing toward his musical past with a new project,
Gob Iron
finds
collaborating with singer and multi-instrumentalist
Anders Parker
of
Varnaline
, but in many ways their first album feels like a variation on the themes of
Uncle Tupelo
's masterful acoustic album,
March 16-20, 1992
. Like
March 16-20
,
Death Songs for the Living
is dominated by
traditional folk
songs, which in this case have been lyrically and musically fashioned into new shapes by
and
Parker
, and while the occasional electric instrument drifts in and out of the picture, the arrangements are purposefully spare and celebrate the simplicity of these songs rather than trying to twist them into more elaborate forms. While
doesn't take as active a role on this album as
Jeff Tweedy
did on
's acoustic opus, he does contribute powerful lead vocals on
"Hills of Mexico"
"Wayside Tavern,"
and there's a undertow of
post-rock
stoicism (attributable to both
) that sets this music apart from the modern-folkie simplicity of
's album isn't as striking or as immediately powerful as
's acoustic effort, if only because
has walked a similar path before, but the music here is strong, deeply felt, and speaks of a genuine commitment to keeping the
folk
tradition alive through a willingness to challenge its structures; it also reveals
is one of the best and most effective collaborators
has brought into the studio since leaving
, and this deserves to be more than a one-off project. ~ Mark Deming