Sounding like they were recorded in the 1930s on broken equipment in a desolate region of southern Mississippi, Those Poor Bastards evoke the kind of heart-wrenching feelings of misery and loneliness you'd hope to hear on ... more »an album called Songs of Desperation. Unrelentingly slow and scratchy, this true old-time Gothic country draws more influence from the likes of Tom Waits and Nick Cave than Johnny Cash. The inky concoction of organ, banjo, and guitar on Songs of Desperation is the background music for themes of sold souls, empty lives, and certain death, but the album is still not without an element of black humour. If you find rockabilly and psychobilly's treatment of the genre too cartoonish and trivial, Those Poor Bastards offers the polar opposite you've been looking for. Rue Morgue Magazine« less
Sounding like they were recorded in the 1930s on broken equipment in a desolate region of southern Mississippi, Those Poor Bastards evoke the kind of heart-wrenching feelings of misery and loneliness you'd hope to hear on an album called Songs of Desperation. Unrelentingly slow and scratchy, this true old-time Gothic country draws more influence from the likes of Tom Waits and Nick Cave than Johnny Cash. The inky concoction of organ, banjo, and guitar on Songs of Desperation is the background music for themes of sold souls, empty lives, and certain death, but the album is still not without an element of black humour. If you find rockabilly and psychobilly's treatment of the genre too cartoonish and trivial, Those Poor Bastards offers the polar opposite you've been looking for. Rue Morgue Magazine
CD Reviews
Lonesome and the Minister are at it again
Justin Z. Hellickson | madison, WI | 09/12/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This album is an instant Hellbilly classic. Lonesome has no patience for BS and howls his damnation for the unbelievers of gothic country. Not since Johnny Cash has there been a country music personality with the magnetism to change the industry. Stand out tracks include "Hell So Near" "Shadows Fall" "Drunk with Fear" "My Last Dollar" and the somnambulistic masterpiece "Drown in the River." Lonesome evokes bleak faulknerian tragedies with a vicious sense of humor. I highly recommend Those Poor [..] to all discontented Nick Cave fans."
1930's death country
Werewolf Ghost | 04/12/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"If you're looking for a slick, overproduced recording then you're missing the whole point. These songs are meant to reclaim the true country roots of the 1930's style murder ballads and weepers. Just read the product review and you'll get a good sense of what this album sounds like. You need not be "duped" or "burned." Just listen to the clips. This isn't music meant for the radio or to make you feel good. It's true country that evokes an overwhelming sense of loneliness and misery."
What's it all about?
Boozy Breath | UK | 05/22/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"You might as well ask and the answer is hidden inside your inner depths, depths you didn't even know that you had.
A friend of mine made me a copy of this CD and I listened to it for a laugh. Was it funny? Yes, in a twisted sort of way. Was it vacuous? Hell, No. It was profound all the way. Was it meaningless? Yes, as meaningless as life itself.
People ramble through their lives trying to give it a `meaning' by banishing sadness and accentuating happiness and in the process are alienated of most of their own lives.
It is all life, in its pain, desperation, sadness, joy, ugliness, beauty, darkness and light, embrace it and be grateful for it is all what you have.
If you want to get off the banal sunshine train, then listen to those poor [...] telling you how.
At any rate, I liked it enough to buy my own copy.
"
Real Country Music
Jeri Latta | NC | 12/19/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This CD is for everyone who really loves country music. Not pop country. Real county. Hank Williams country. I'm really glad to find there are young artist out there still making country music that bears its soul no matter how ugly it may be. Great artist. Great CD."
Gothic, indeed!
M. Hartshorn | Parkersburg, WV | 06/17/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Remember a time when you could turn on the radio and hear country songs that were sad? I don't mean "my-woman-left-me-boo-hoo" sad, I mean depressing/scary sad. There was a time when country music was considered too depressing, and you know what? Some of us liked it that way! Well, if you like it depressing, dark, and scary, Those Poor Bastards have got the cure for what ails ya. This album was my introduction to their music, and was probably the best one to start with. There are a good mix of styles on this one, country, bluegrass, gospel, you name it. The subject matter ain't for the weak....death, Hell, murder, sickness, booze, sin, all of the good stuff that country music used to have before it went soft in the 80's and 90's. There are other gothic country bands out there, Slim Cessna, 16 Horsepower/Woven Hand, but these guys probably stay the closest to real country of them all. Depressing and scary? You bet, but some of us like a little of that, now and then."
Track Listings (11) - Disc #1