Rolling Stone are today carrying a new song from Son Volt taken from their upcoming album ‘Union’ which will be released on March 29th, and it sees them going all political which here at AUK Towers we heartily approve of. ‘The 99’ begins with the line “Journalists in jail covering the scenes; The profit columns rise for the corporate machines” and goes on from there to tackle trickle down economics and the criminal justice system. The 99 of course refers to the 99 percent movement which became the slogan of the Occupy protestors in recent years. RS describes it as “Calling back the amplified sound of Son Volt’s early efforts, including 1995’s landmark album Trace, the new track is a dusty Heartland rocker punctuated by a gritty closing guitar solo.”
Other topical issues are covered throughout the album which was inspired by Jay Farrar’s admiration of folk singer Woody Guthrie and labour activist Mary Harris “Mother” Jones, and the band recorded parts of the record at the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the Mother Jones Museum in Mount Olive, Illinois. “A lot of these songs are songs of turmoil,” Farrar said in a release. “Questioning what’s going on.”
