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Jerry Reed - The Essential Jerry Reed (country): You may know Jerry Reed as the actor who played “Cledus ‘the Snowman’ Snow” from Smokey and the Bandit, but did you know that he was the song writing talent behind the movie’s soundtrack? He was. The catchy style of “East Bound and Down” was all Jerry Reed, but Reed has had a long career of writing funny, upbeat country tales. Even though the songs come off as jokes a lot of the time, Reed’s guitar picking is not. Chet Atkins considered him to be on par with the best country finger pickers out there, but I think that because Reed wrote songs that were so clever and fun, the average listener never really noticed the music underneath. This album contains all of the fun hits you could need from Reed, and a few of those melodramatic country love songs that only could come from the 70’s. It’s a lot of fun on the surface, but it’s a guitar album under the hood. B+

NOFX - Never Trust a Hippy (punk): This was a 2006 EP that preceded the full length Wolves In Wolves Clothing that I got it for a couple of bucks when Tower Records went out of business. Despite the draw of a cover with a picture of Jesus and “Never Trust a Hippy” on the cover, I can’t say that I would’ve bought it if it wasn’t on sale. In addition to the extremely tight, fast music and clever lyrics hat you would expect from NOFX, the only oddity that might make it worth a buy is an acoustic version of “You’re Wrong”, which you’re unlikely to hear anywhere else. I’ve listened to the six songs on this EP several times through without thinking about changing the disc. B+

New Bomb Turks - At Ropes End (punk): The first tracks that I heard from Ohio’s New Bomb Turks were from this 1998 album, and I knew that they were a band that I should be listening to. Since then, I’ve picked up a couple of their albums, and they even got an honorable mention in my Top 10 Driving Albums List. In terms of style, I’ve seen the band listed as garage punk, but I think there is a distinct rockabilly influence that the critics seem to turn a blind ear to. This album has less punk and more polish than their debut release, !!Destroy Oh Boy!!, which might not fare well with some fans, but I think it works better. The feel is still driving punk, but there is a catchiness that makes it more memorable than the standard 3 minute punk blast. If I’m in the car, the pedal is guaranteed to drop, earning this the pole position as my favorite New Bomb Turks album. (Also see my review of Scared Straight.) B+

Asylum Street Spankers - Spanks for the Memories (blues): The Asylum Street Spankers are a period blues/ jazz group from Austin who, like the Squirrel Nut Zippers, play in a 1930’s style. They use all acoustic instruments such as the upright bass, clarinet, washboard, acoustic guitar, and harmonica to give the album an authentic 30’s charm without forcing the listener to wade through the poor recording quality of 75 years ago. I was a little surprised by the distinct lack of a brass section, which leaves them with more of a bluesy sound than I expected, but I can’t say that it makes them sound any more modern. If I had a choice between the ‘Zippers brass and the ‘Spankers clarinet, I’d probably side with the brass, but that’s just a stylistic preference of mine.

Where the ‘Spankers tend to shine is with their more bawdy ballads, none of which are featured on this album. A lot of the good songs can be in the Internet Archive’s Live Music Archive. Check out “the Pussycat Song” and their cover of the Beastie Boys’ “Paul Revere”, in their 2003 performance at the at Canal Street Tavern. This disc is a C, but I don’t think it’s a good representation of the fun that the band is capable of. C

Bury your Dead - Beauty And The Breakdown (metalcore): I bought this on a whim at the tower going out of business sale. I thought I lucked out with some basic metatcore, but by the third or fourth song, the were throwing so much synthesizer into my metal that I couldn’t take it anymore. One thing that completely pussifies metal for me is the synthesizer, so I got rid of this disc almost immediately. I think it’s hard to rate because I think it would’ve been ok without the synth, unfortunately I just couldn’t get past it. F

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