Saturday Songs - Oct. 22

1. “San Francisco” – Steve Tannen

Anyone who’s been around the past few days has heard my speak of my latest obsession: Steve Tannen. Tannen, of course, is the male half of the folk duo The Weepies, the other half being Tannen’s wife Deb Talan. But unlike the Weepies music, which has always seemed to me not exactly mopey, but soft-spoken and sort of meditative, Tannen’s two solo albums have a quite different feel.

Although The Weepies have covered “San Francisco”—originally off Tannen’s debut album The Big Señorita—their cover sounds nothing like the original track, which, I think, shows Tannen exploring some dark emotional territory. Not that The Weepies haven’t ever delved into the sadder parts of life, but Tannen seems awfully earnest about a broken relationship and its aftereffects of yearning, unlike most of The Weepies' catalog. (See songs: "Gotta Have You," "Be My Honeypie," etc.) The first lines of "San Francisco" are some of the best I've heard in a long time: 

“Well, she…she gave the big see you later
And I…well, I don’t think I will…”

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2. “Sydney, I’ll Come Running” – Brett Dennen

This is one of the songs that could quite easily be termed “catchy-as-hell.” While Dennen’s opening lines may seem to lag in energy, it’s more like a ruse to set up his explosive pre-chorus and chorus, which grabbed me from the first listen.

If there’s a problem with the song, it’s Dennen’s voice, which finds him singing some high notes that make him sound strained and uncomfortable. Other than that, Dennen strikes pop gold.

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3. “Adrenaline And Heresy” – Son Volt

Son Volt—more of a solo project for Jay Farrar, formerly a member of Wilco with Jeff Tweedy—has always been a favorite band of mine. Farrar has an ear for writing punchy country-rock songs, something he showed as early on as Uncle Tupelo’s album No Depression. “Adrenaline And Heresy,” off Son Volt’s album The Search, is not so much a straight country-rock song as a careful build. In some ways, the song is unbearable; Farrar’s lyrics are depressing, bitter, and verging on hopelessness:

“A concrete conscience here is worth nil,

Placebo pill full of bitter comfort,

Bitter comfort.”

But the real treat of the song is the escalating (if still somewhat hopeless) refrain: “High on adrenaline, it’s a new day” which closes out the song. Happy? Not so much…but there does seem to be some hope there.

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4. “Dixieland” – Steve Earle & the Del McCoury Band

Taking off of traditional Celtic folk as well as bluegrass, Earle crafts a brilliant tune about an Irish fighting man who leaves his homeland for the United States to fight for the Union in the Civil War. (Dropping in real Civil War references is always a bonus; Earle makes clear reference to Colonel Joshua Chamberlain, who led the 20^th Maine Infantry.)

What makes the song fascinating is Earle’s clearly 21^st century angle, in that he implicitly makes some Marxist allusions in the song’s conclusion:

“I am Kilrain of the 20th Maine and I damn all gentlemen

whose only worth is their father's name and the sweat of a workin’ man.

Well, we come from the farms and the city streets and a hundred foreign lands

and we spilled our blood in the battle’s heat.

Now we're all Americans.”

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5. “Dudes” – David Mead

Thanks to $20,000 raised using crowd-funding platform Kickstarter, David Mead is releasing his six full-length album, Dudes, on November 15. In anticipation of that release, Mead has released part of his back catalog and lead single “Dudes” through Noisetrade. If you haven’t listened to any Mead before, you’re in for a real treat on this 25 song collection—check out “Indiana,” “Nashville,” and “Girl On A Roof” if you’re new to Mead’s music.

“Dudes” is a funny, likable ditty about depending on a man depending on his friends (“But you’ve got dudes”) in the wake of a tough break-up. Sad, sweet, and sort of great. Download the full 25 songs from Noisetrade using the widget above!