Track Listings (14) - Disc #1| All Artists: Gourds Title: Noble Creatures Members Wishing: 3 Total Copies: 0 Label: Yep Roc Records Original Release Date: 1/1/2007 Re-Release Date: 7/10/2007 Genres: Country, Alternative Rock, Pop, Rock Styles: Americana, Country Rock Number of Discs: 1 SwapaCD Credits: 1 UPC: 634457215320 |
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Search - Gourds :: Noble Creatures
 | Gourds Noble Creatures Genres: Country, Alternative Rock, Pop, Rock
Three tracks into Noble Creatures, you hit the album's heart. The opening notes of "Promenade" faintly recall the Band's non-pareil classic, "The Weight," but it's Kevin Russell's high lonesome vocal quaver and Max Johnsto... more » |
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Amazon.com Three tracks into Noble Creatures, you hit the album's heart. The opening notes of "Promenade" faintly recall the Band's non-pareil classic, "The Weight," but it's Kevin Russell's high lonesome vocal quaver and Max Johnston's long-toned, austere fiddle lines that make "Promenade" possibly the most beautiful song of this century's first decade. The Gourds, perennially unpredictable, include several gorgeous, slower tunes here, from the plaintive "Steeple Full of Swallows" to the sashaying "Moon Gone Down," and the aching "Last Letters." But these Texans are old-school itinerants, invoking wide-prarie country and Cajun and sloppy bar-room cow punk in equal measures--witness the Tom Waits-tinged "Dr. Spivey" for one growly-blues, off-center example. Jimmy Smith's "A Few Extra Kilos" plays on the boozy, aging-body refrain of "spillage in the morning and again in the night," a mid-tempo paean to the torso expanding beyond its younger self. For the high-stepping, up-kicking Cajun touches, Smith steps back up to the mic for "All in the Pack" and Russell throws in the potentially politically incorrect "Cranky Mulatto," all of which is grand. Make no mistake, however: "Promenade" alone is worth the cost of admission. Treat yourself. --Andrew Bartlett Similarly Requested CDs
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CD ReviewsThe Gourds at their most mature...and consistent Mark Blevins | Lindside, WV United States | 07/24/2007 (4 out of 5 stars) "I'd heard the Gourds before, but wasn't knocked by them. Their new disc is nothing short of spectauclar. It sounds like a more mature band than before; Promenade aches like a classic country ballad. How Will You Shine employs horns in a tune about how to face the dark times in life, and I can't stop listening to it. Moon Going Down is just a gorgeous mid-tempo tune. That's not to say the guys aren't having fun. The Gyroscopic simply kicks, along with A Few Extra Kilos and Cranky Mulatto (which has a great cajun/zydeco sound). The demented country shuffle Red Letter Days sounds like some 50s honky tonk outtake; it might be my favorite track.Before this disc, the other Gourds material I heard was good, but the entire albums weren't of this quality. I haven't heard all their albums, but I'm familiar with their past three. It's hard to describe this music; people keep comparing them to The Band, but the Gourds are so much more fun and enjoyable to listen to. They mix rock, folk, country, and blues into a stew. I can't label it; it's just good music, and I hope more people hear it." It's the singing R. Erickson | Vermont | 08/27/2007 (5 out of 5 stars) "I've come to expect the musicianship to be top notch from the Gourds and "Noble Creatures" lives up big time. But it is the singing and flawless production that puts this outing over the top. Never have they sounded so strong and confident. This is one of those CD's that just gets better with every listen." Throwing all five stars at this album loce_the_wizard | Lilburn, GA USA | 07/27/2007 (5 out of 5 stars) "It's an easy task being a Gourd's fan these days. This well-traveled quintet of stellar musicians from Austin, TX, have, with their latest offering, "Noble Creatures," retained their signature, cross-cutting fusion of musical genres and finely burnished their sound so that it glows. And their signature warped humor, off-beat insights, and stop-did-they- really-say-that lyrics make for some fun listening.
On this set of songs, more slice-of-life vignettes for the "well read and unwashed," the Gourds launch from their familiar country-bluegrass-folk-roots-rock platform and incorporate some new flourishes. The opening track features horns and on others the organ shines, or the pedal steel, or the guitars. None of these are radical departures for the Gourds, but the new elements keep things fresh. Perhaps the inclusion of four ballads may strike some twinge of fear into the hearts of long-time Gourd's fans, but those songs really work well, are easy on the ears (but tough on the heart), and offer a nice balance to the mix of tunes here. This long-running collaboration continues making some of the best music around. Fans of the band know, too, that "Gourds' music," as it is often pegged, is something special. I throwing all five stars at this album. " |
