Jay Farrar is a true musical enigma. Right when you think you have his music pegged, he changes genre, effortlessly, and with equal determination to sound genuine. He has roots in the band Uncle Tupelo and left to expand into a more alternative country rock sound. I prefer to call it Americana rock. Grant Lee Phillips (Buffalo) has his finger on this semi-quirky music that is loaded with major and minor chords and not without a bit of a somber tone to it. This is not ‘desperate’ rock. It exudes from tasty guitar licks to interesting and reflective lyrics. Son Volt hit the pinnacle of Reviewer-Loved ‘Rock God’ with the phenomenal ‘Trace.’ There was just so much stored up in Farrar’s repertoire that was unused in Uncle T. He expands into psychodelia with the great song: ‘Circadian Rhythm.’ The Byrds trademark feedbacks and guitar-bending notes are a staple in Son Volt’s genre-jumping style. It is because of this unique style that the band has not enjoyed the fanatic success of other Indie bands: bands that have succeeded with much less talent and thought. I think most of the Son Volt fans will rate this CD as a slight notch below their personal favorites. Sometimes Amazon reviewers get slapped simply by saying a cd is NOT magnificent, but it is a tad bit below the ‘A’ level that Farrar & Uncle Tupelo fans expect. ‘Okemah’ I think is one of the finest guitar cds of this current decade. This cd, “The Search” is also more of a rocker cd than previous Volt releases, but like a typical Beatles album, the songs go alternatively from rockers to ballads to folk and back to rockers again. I think there are 100’s of current Indie musicians that just WISH they could write a song as well as Farrar. The Best Buy version of this cd has a sealed 3 cd EP that includes The Picture, Highways and Cigarettes; and Circadian Rhythm – all alternative versions of three songs on the regular cd. Jeff Feezle of MacafeezRead full review
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