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In a year marked by indie pop irony and crunken hip-hop Jesus shout-outs, getting a dose of old time relijun hasn't come easy. The one shot we got so far, Loretta Lynn's glorious Van Lear Rose, showed the power of true blues, country style, even as updated by the White man's guitar histrionics and hipster cache. With Rose as a benchmark, taking a swig of front porch blues hounds Four Year Bender's California country hooch yields a similar taste, but from much humbler origins.
Sporting a delivery as honest and unpretentious as a hobo troubadour, main Bender Ryan Smith breathes weary life and ragged joy into Lucky, the group's debut album. The songs within were mostly developed when Smith was at the helm of funk mobsters Boomshanka, a nationally touring outfit that gained some modest success a few years back. Somehow even as they were freaking the funk, Smith and band were stewing in the blues, ready for something to change. After Boomshanka dissolved in '01, parts of the crew plus a few friends and family regrouped and cut Lucky in living rooms and studios across the Bay Area.
Amazingly, the album sounds entirely unforced and completely natural, like these guys were meant to be rocking laid back, rusty blues in creased-billed trucker hats and Pendelton work shirts all their lives. Even "New Orleans Lament," a tune about overbearing rents forcing the singer's flight to the Crescent City, makes perfect sense; as the album's most downtrodden number it stands out in its defeatism. But mostly we get the kind of tear-in-ma-beer, down-but-not-out hopeful heartbreak that marks the best traditional country music. The piano and lap steel-embellished "Hey Bartender" reels with genuine twang, and the soft-strummed "Leaving Today" comes off tender and real. The accordion on "Wine and Roses" weeps like a jilted lover, while the jazzy acoustic swing of "Talkin' Bout" and the soulful buildup of "What's Good For You" will have you scootin' your boots and swingin' your mug as you sing along. Thankfully, there's no alt in this country--Four Year Bender is refreshingly uncomplicated, just the kind of straight talking giddyup music could use right now.
Jonathan Zwickel
JamBase | San Francisco
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