Before there was the folk revival of the ‘60s, there was the American folk music scene of the ‘30s. That folk music subsequently came to be viewed as part of the American cultural milieu rather than a centuries-old and radically diverse European phenomenon could – depending on your ideological bent – be an ironic symptom of contemporary American cultural hegemony.
But to listen to The Milk Carton Kids’ new record, The Ash and Clay, is to realise that folk music is alive and well, with one eye cocked toward the past and the other gazing into the future. The sense of hope and excitement spilling out of Hope of a Lifetime should be distilled and infused into the water supply; Snake Eyes is Lead Belly via David Crosby and Honey, Honey is the wide-eyed spirit of Simon and Garfunkel with ne’er a grumpy ego to be seen.
Years Gone By laments the passage of time, and wonders if the emotional scars will ever heal; the title track hops on the back of a jalopy, casts a glance around and wonders if everything will be alright.
The darkness of Promised Land is tempered by a faint hope for romantic light; maybe it’ll happen, maybe it won’t. The Jewel of June is so soft and beautiful you want to squeeze it til you cry; Whisper in Her Ear is the love song every love-struck adolescent wants to write instead of the turgid high school poetry that usually eventuates and On the Mend reminds us all that after the bad must surely come the good.
Heaven heads out onto the front porch and finds inspiration in Greenwich Village Idealism and Hear Them Loud is Johnny Cash on the light rail and Memphis is, well, just beautiful.
About one in 25 albums that I play for my family provokes anything other than dismissive rhetoric. The Ash and Clay has found its way onto high rotation on the family stereo. Make of that what you will.
BY PATRICK EMERY
Best Track: The Jewel of June
If You Like These, You’ll Like This: BOB DYLAN, DAVE RONK, CROSBY, STILLS AND NASH
In A Word: Folk
