Lee’s Listening Stack – Centro-matic -‘Candidate Waltz’
Centro-matic
Candidate Waltz
Undertow
In Centro-matic’s view, there’s a fine line that divides insurgency from Americana, and that’s never been more evident than on Candidate Waltz, the latest in a series of daringly defiant albums that this ragged conglomerate has purveyed for the past twenty years. Helmsman/mainstay Will Johnson takes a pragmatic view, but his arch defiance shapes both the melodies and his mantra. There’s abject determination evident in nearly every entry, as manifest by the unrelenting surge of “All the Talkers” and “Iso-Residue” or the simple statement of fact that ushers in “Against the Line” and “If They Talk You Down.” Johnson and company aren’t content to merely make noise – they do plenty of that – but they also inject a ferocity that reverberates through every corner of this set, shaking it up with jarring effect. That makes for some disquieting moments, particularly when it comes to the rumbling undertow that underscores the otherwise assertive “Only In My Double Mind,” a title that’s more than suggestive of their conflicting intent. Ultimately though, Candidate Waltz comes across as an extreme if unerring indictment of our modern malaise, spoken from the heart of a band primed to persevere. – Lee Zimmerman