The Scud Mountain Boys – The Early Year (2-CD set)
Brought to wider attention last year with their Sub Pop debut Massachusetts, the Scud Mountain Boys had in fact already issued not one, but two, albums on Chunk Records one of which, Pine Box, was a vinyl-only release. Both came out in 1995; thus the singular Year in the title of this reissue, which combines both records on a two-disc set. (The se_quencing and, in a couple cases, the actual contents of the two albums have been slightly rearranged, but thats likely to bother only the few folks who got hold of the original records.)
While Massachusetts was hardly an overproduced jump to the big leagues, The Early Year reveals how the Scuds slow-and-quiet mini_malism has developed since their inauspicious beginnings around lap steel player Bruce Tulls kitchen table four years ago. Pine Box is particularly hushed and deliberate, casting a spell over the room like a warm glow from the dying embers of a cold winter nights fire in the hearth. While the immediate attention might go to the bands remarkable reworkings of three late 60s/early 70s pop hits Wichita Lineman, Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves, and Please Mr. Please a couple of the bands own tunes are ultimately more mem_orable most notably the intriguingly titled Peter Graves Anatomy, with its haunting refrain, Have mercy on my soul. Beyond the songs, the sheer tone of Tulls heartbreakingly muted steel guitar and Joe Pernices wistful, weary vocals make the album a four-in-the-morning minor masterpiece.
Dance The Night Away picks up the pace a bit on a couple tunes, (She Took His) Picture and Helen, both of which are driven along by the drumming of Keith Levreault (a latter-day member of the Blood Oranges). Alternate versions of a couple tunes from Pine Box, Freight of Fire and Silo, are included here, though not in appreciably different forms. The nicest touch is a cover of Wheres The Playground Susie?, a lesser-known Glen Campbell hit from the Jimmy Webb catalog than the more obvious Wichita Lineman included on Pine Box, and rendered with a reverent grace that underscores just how effectively the Scuds can bring out the essence of a beautiful melody.