Country music influenced by Gram Parsons, but altogether livelier and rougher around the edges.
Cosmic American Music is the debut of Tabasco Birds, an eight-piece from North Texas. Six of the eight members attended Dallas Art High School, and all are now students at the University of North Texas. They say that they “channel the Cosmic American sound of Gram Parsons”, and you can see what they mean, but actually their music is livelier, more varied and rougher around the edges than Parsons’. This is a good thing, as the contributions from the eight members on different instruments mean that there is originality and freshness to their work.
They are closer to the rural, almost hillbilly country of Noahjohn. As you listen, you can imagine the songs being played to an appreciative audience, having great fun dancing in a barn at a hoedown. At times, when honky-tonk piano from Cole Chaney drives along the song, they have a rootsy sound similar to The Deslondes.
The opener Reflections Off The Water gives a good idea of what is to come. Starting slowly with half-spoken, half-sung vocals from Logan Bolen on drums, the song develops a rollicking swing. In comes sax (Joel Mena), pedal steel (Jacob Bullman), fiddle (Owen Swift), piano and organ to give the song variety and colour. Cathal Mayfield plays lead guitar, and Jack Kilbride is on bass, in addition to providing the pedal steel solo here. Swift and Bullman do a lot of the writing on the album, but Bolen and Mayfield also contribute.
There is then a change to infectious guitar-pop on the second track, Cowboys on the Front Line, with some harmonica added. Another diversion to a much slower pace is heard later on the two tracks, The Farm and Amanda, where female vocalist Chris Smith takes the lead. Her voice, which reminds you of a British folk singer, is beautifully clear. The Farm showcases the rather angular rhythms used by the band, while Amanda is beautifully enhanced by pedal steel. Indeed it has some of their best lyrics, which describe a woman on her own after a love has come to an end:
“Our love was tender but it couldn’t last long
The draft called out his name
He said he’d come home but something felt wrong and you know. It went wrong
Over the years I have longed”
Likewise, another description of a love ending works well on the closer I’ll Always Remember where the singer looks back fondly: “And I’ll never forget the way you understood me”. Elsewhere, the words are a little cryptic at times, so it is difficult to really get a grip on their meaning.
You hope that the band will continue to write and perform and come over to play the UK at some point. This is a very impressive debut.
