Back-porch hymns, drunken hollers, odes to love lost and well-worn lonesome folk melodies mingle with each other in a dangerous blues-infused play between life and death on the Crooked Brother’s debut Deathbed Pillowtalk. Rough three-part harmonies croon the dark tales over mostly acoustic instrumentation: Banjos, mandolins, guitars, dobros, harmonicas, handclaps and assorted percussion, such as an iron rail, hearken back to simpler, unamplified times. The Tom Waits-influenced, boisterous opener Rusty Old Scars sets the mood with sandpaper-larynx vocals before eventually settling down for the heartbreaking Rocking Chair Waltz. In Buried Alive, the husband of a lover is put to death in cheery fashion, while the country tune Won’t Be Needing It Now chronicles the remnants of a bad breakup. Overall, the Crooked Brothers have produced an impressive first record filled with classic-sounding folky country tunes reminiscent of another era. Catch their CD release show Thursday, Nov. 5 at the West End Cultural Centre.

Published in Volume 64, Number 9 of The Uniter (October 29, 2009)