‘Rain Plans’ is the latest long player from ISRAEL NASH GRIPKA, who records under the name of Israel Nash. Israel was born and raised in Missouri and lived in New York City, until recently, when he moved to the Texas hills, just outside Austin. ‘Rain Plans’ is his first release since 2011's 'Barn Doors Spring Tour, Live in Holland,' which was a live recording of his album ‘Barn Doors and Concrete Floors’, also released that same year.
That album was recorded live in an old barn in New York, and showed Israel’s influences, the main ones being Neil Young and The Rolling Stones. ‘Rain Plans’, however, has moved on from this slightly, although the spirit of Neil Young is writ large throughout the album. The reason for this is that Israel has a melodic, slightly nasal singing voice, which is similar in pitch and tone to Neil.
What really struck me about this album, was the excellent guitar work. There are a lot of elements of late 1960s/early 1970s style, but the album never leaves the listener feeling that it’s just retro, more that it is a homage to an era that has now passed but with some new twists, and some diverse influences.
The first track, ‘Woman At The Well’ has a start that is not a million miles away from Creedence Clearwater Revival’s ‘Have You Ever Seen The Rain?’ from their album ‘Pendulum’, released in 1970. The lyrics are a little bit difficult to decipher, though the song appears to be about someone called Laura, who’s “up to no good. Keep my eyes steady, like you said I should.” That said, even if the lyrics are a bit impenetrable, I defy anyone to not be humming along to this after a few plays.
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Tracks like ‘Through The Door’ are far more akin to country music, although there is a real laid back vibe as Israel sings “Be around when the sun goes down, see the potter’s wheel spinnin’ around.” However there are broader influences at work, and Israel manages to use them very effectively. For example, ‘Myer Canyon"s intro manages to remind me of the opening to The Doors ‘The End’, and comes across as quite psychedelic before veering into other territory entirely.
Overall, this is a really enjoyable album. I think that even fans of Israel'S previous work will be surprised at the breadth and depth of this album, and it would certainly go down well with fans of psychedelic music and Alt/Country in general. It's certainly worth further investigation.
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