Reviewed:
- A Sailors Guide to Earth (2016)
- Sound & Fury (2019)
A SAILOR'S GUIDE TO EARTH 2016 (Atlantic)
- Standouts: 'Breakers Roar', 'Keep It Between the Lines', 'Sea Stories', 'In Bloom', 'Brace for Impact (Live a Little), 'Call to Arms'
This album won the Grammy for Best Country Album in 2017 - we all know that Grammy awards mean jackshit in reality, but I was listening to a lot of Hank 3 and Johnny Cash last year and decided to check out some recent, recommended country artists. Obviously Sturgill Simpson came up a lot and A Sailor's Guide to Earth was the album that seemed to get the most light. When I listened to it for the first time I was surprised the album was even nominated for that award - not because of the quality of the music - but because it isn't really a fully-blown country album in my mind. Well, actually, I'm NOT surprised it won the Grammy's country award because this is the same organisation that thinks Jethro Tull are a heavy metal band. Nonetheless, A Sailor's Guide to Earth wasn't really what I was expecting.
Sturgill's 2 albums prior to this one are a lot more country in the traditional sense, though I didn't know that at the time seeing as I heard them afterwards, but A Sailor's Guide to Earth uses country as a foundation, and mixes genres such as rock and soul into the formula. Tracks like 'Welcome to Earth (Pollywog)' and 'Keep It Between the Lines' have a definite soul, even Motown-influenced sound, taking full advantage of saxophones and trombones. 'Brace for Impact (Live a Little)' is pretty much a straight-up rock song, and a very solid one. The upbeat 'Call to Arms' is more country-rock than anything else, but it also has a kind of bluesy, rockabilly touch as well. I dunno, but 'Breakers Roar' actually sounds quite folky to me as well. There are a couple more outlaw country-esque numbers on here, sure; one of the highlights is the cover of Nirvana's 'In Bloom' - which has been unplugged for the most part and starts off very moody before escalating to use of brass instruments. 'Sea Stories' and 'Oh Sarah' fit more comfortably in the realm of country too. Simpson's voice is very country too, on all the tracks here.
This isn't an especially long album, lasting around 39 minutes in total, but every song is solid, my favourites being 'Keep It Between the Lines', 'Sea Stories', the Nirvana cover, 'Brace for Impact (Live a Little)' and 'Call to Arms'. It's just a very well written, performed and produced record that mixes country, rock and soul together quite seamlessly. It doesn't sound like Sturgill was necessarily trying to be country on here, even if that's where his roots lie. The music is varied enough for fans of other genres to be able to enjoy it. It's the kind of album I'll listen to when cleaning my house.
Adam's rating: 8.3/10
SOUND & FURY 2019 (Elektra)
- Standouts: 'Sing Along', 'Make Art Not Friends', 'Best Clockmaker on Mars', 'Last Man Standing', 'Fastest Horse in Town'
I bought a new turntable in February this year. I had a very old one for a long time, but it's been in storage for years and the stylus is broken. This year I finally decided "I'm going to start collecting vinyl LP's, instead of just buying the odd one here and there on occasion" and I felt like buying something relatively new. Sturgill Simpson's Sound & Fury just stood out for me, not only because I bought A Sailor's Guide to Earth last year and was impressed with it overall, but also because the artwork is kickass, and album covers are a big part of the pleasure of owning vinyl records for me.
Having listened to this thing a handful of times at this point, it's clear that Sturgill's not afraid to experiment. Any of his country music heritage has been almost completely abandoned here and what we have is a fully-blown rock album with some retro, boogie and synth influences thrown in for good measure. The tracks don't fade out, they simply cut out and shift into the next regardless of how they sound. 'Remember to Breathe' for example, has a very stretched-out, 'big' sounding scope but is immediately followed up by the boogie rock of 'Sing Along'. 'All Said and Done' is a mellow, spacey psychedelic jam that then cuts into 'Last Man Standing', which is an uptempo hard rock n' roll song that almost reminds me of Status Quo! As you can tell, the album is full of surprises and held my interest from start to finish. The best song on here is probably 'Make Art Not Friends', which is an extremely powerful ballad that actually uses 80's style synths to it's strengths. There's some other really cool psychedelic rock moments on here too, with 'Best Clockmaker on Mars' and the distorted 'Fastest Horse in Town'. Simpson himself has adjust his voice a little more to suit the music on the record, although I can still hear a slight country twang in his voice, but this isn't a bad thing.
I enjoyed Sound & Fury the first time I heard it, although it isn't directly comparable to his previous albums. I'd say A Sailor's Guide to Earth is probably a better-crafted record on the whole. I do think some of the tracks here go a little overboard with the synths at times, but for the most part they work and give the album more identity. I wouldn't complain if Simpson himself went down another entirely new stylistic path for his next LP - I reckon he could pull of a hard rock album quite well if 'Last Man Standing' is anything to go by. Oh, there was also Netflix anime created to go with the music to this album, but I haven't watched it as I'm really not a fan of anime in any way, shape or form. Just thought it was worth mentioning.
Adam's rating: 8/10
