David Childers & The Modern Don Juans – Jailhouse Religion
Don’t put much stock in the title of this latest release from Mt. Holly, North Carolina, artist David Childers, his second with the Modern Don Juans and his seventh, and best, overall. There’s nothing opportunistic or reborn about the evangelical fervor that seems to drive Childers when he’s rocking and rootsing. Since his 1994 debut Godzilla! He Done Broke Out!, he’s been giving it everything he’s got. If you want opportunistic, look to George Wallace, the subject of an eponymous song on Jailhouse Religion that pivots on the chorus jab, “George Wallace knew that’s how it had to be.”
That song’s chug helps explain the Johnny Cash comparisons that dot Childers’ reviews. It’s one of a small handful of cuts that veer from the album’s dominant sound: straight-at-ya guitar rock that’s sometimes country-influenced, frequently fierce, and almost always top-shelf. The terrific “Bottom Of My Bottle” casts an intelligent eye toward Muscle Shoals; also stretching the album’s stylistic boundaries are the trumpet-coaxed Tex-Mexer “Roadside Parable” and “Chains Of Sadness”, which deftly fulfills its Louvin Brothers aspirations.
In front throughout are Childers’ words and burly voice, both of which are homegrown and unfussy, earnest and wise. Think of him as a confident, exuberant, only occasionally lapsing preacher who believes to the core every message he shares.