Texan digs deep into his roots and heads south for an infectious listen.
Pug Johnson is undeniably a country singer. Listening to the first few lines of opening track ‘Big Trains’ will soon confirm that Johnson is as far south as you can get in USA music terms. But, although he may have once dipped his toes into the broiling mass of country music that is Nashville, Johnson’s roots are firmly planted in Texas.
That brief, post high-school Nashville period aside, Johnson is a country artist who isn’t afraid to reach out beyond the limitations some impose on the genre and, any thoughts that we might be listening to straight-up, generic country, are soon disabused. Johnson grew up to a soundtrack that included Cajun music, swamp pop, Tex-Mex and honky-tonk and new album ‘El Cabron’ showcases them all.
Big, bouncy tracks like ‘Buy Me A Bayou’ and ‘Thanks To The Cathouse (I’m In The Doghouse With You)’ bring to mind The Mavericks in their pomp. That mariachi sound hints at trips across the nearby Mexican border. The overall theme of ‘running down to Mexico’ is an old and recurring refrain in Texan lore and the title track is very much drawn from that Texan pastime. ‘El Cabron’ is a quick and dirty jaunt south of the border, complete with drugs, alcohol, and women, and narrated by a character not-too-different from the protagonists from writers like Hunter S. Thompson.
As the album came together Johnson realised that this lead song was a theme song for the main character of the eleven-song narrative. So, when Johnson sings of visiting a cathouse (brothel) because his woman has “turned on the chill” or picking up women in bar and taking them, for amongst other things, “a toke” in his truck, it is a relief, of sorts, to believe that we are talking fictional characters. The literal translation of ‘El Cabron’ can mean bastard, jerk, guy or dude. Infer that anyway you like but, if there was any doubt whether we may be in Trump bumper sticker territory here, then tracks like ‘Cathouse’ and ‘Last Call’ soon dispel that reservation.
Johnson’s use of all those locational influences are what lifts ‘El Cabron’ out of the swamp that is generic country music. It is the sheer vitality of the music that impresses most and anyone who can relate to that Mavericks comparison will know just how infectious and impactful that sound can be.
