Under perpetual attack from oppressive forces of cultural hegemony unleashed by armies of banal global brands, the sharp cultural divide that once separated the southern states of the United States continues to erode. But in Old Crow Medicine Show’s new album, Remedy, can be seen the ember of a world that refuses to be snuffed out.
There’s a rustic, folksy beauty about the opening track Brushy Mountain Conjugal Trailer that would bring a jig to the most staid of crusty corporate boardroom discussions; 8 Dogs, 8 Banjos is a moonshine-fuelled, fiddle-charged bar room excitement that reminds you of what’s important in our increasingly sanitised existence. Sweet Amarillo is The Band in Levon Helm’s adolescent backyard, all doe-eyed and gushing; Mean Enough World is part social critique, part harp-and-banjo statement of resistance. Dearly Departed Friend is the sincere ode to a lost friend that we’d all love to compose. Firewater is Dylan walking along the railway tracks of Alabama, finally freed from the shackles of expectation.
On Brave Boys the late night drunken madness kicks in again, and we’re out on the worn wooden dance floor, partying like there’s no tomorrow to worry about. Doc’s Day has the invigorating comfort of a home-cooked meal replete with pork chops, apple pie and some weird-arse alcohol cooked up in the back shed. The bluesy-cultural reverence of O Cumberland River is palpable; why would anyone move to the city when you have this? Tennessee Bound explores the theme further – this is the stuff of Mark Twain novels and its oft-misunderstood ilk. But is the Charlie Daniels-styled Shit Creek ironic or honest, an admission that just beneath the smiling facade of southern hospitality lies a level of sociological dysfunction no-one can ignore?
And does it even matter, when you can bathe in grits-and-chilli splendour of Sweet Home, or see out the album with The Warden and its attendant mixture of narrative and metaphor? No, what’s important is Old Crow Medicine Show’s embrace of the myriad faces of southern culture. Paradoxically, this might just be the United States’ only hope for the future.
BY PATRICK EMERY
In A Word: Southern
If You Like These, You’ll Love This:CHARLIE DANIELS, THE BAND
Best Track: Brushy Mountain Conjugal Trailer
