Tuesday, March 3, 2009

out today: Justin Townes Earle

"The couple in the corner been going at it all night long / man in the back putting bets out over the phone"At a mere 32 minutes long, Justin Townes Earle's sophomore album, Midnight At The Movies, is a quick easy listen on par with Little Joy or Dent May. You can breeze through the 12 tracks so effortlessly that if you don't pay attention you'll easily miss it. What Earle does so well is capturing the complexity of such an enigmatic genre, sounding like Mississippi John Hurt at times ("They Killed John Henry") and Ryan Adams at others ("Mama's Eyes"). He fuses honkey-tonk with bluegrass, blues with ballads, and comes out on top. He even squeezes in a fantastic cover of the Mats "Can't Hardly Wait" which puts the original to shame (I never liked the horns anyway).

For those in the NYC area, Earle, who by the way is Steve Earle's son, is playing the early show at the Merc tonight. It's his only northeast date before he plays every venue in the state of Tennessee. Pick up a copy of Midnight At The Movies on CD or limited edition vinyl, out today.

Justin Townes Earle - Midnight At The Movies [from 2009's Midnight At The Movies]

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