Detroit-born JEFF LAINE is a man with the hellhound of history on his trail. Sure, we like our Americana stars to have had their noses rubbed in the grime of experience, but Jeff's truly been round the block more times than most. A quick glance over his CV reveals early days in bands with future Knack leader Doug Fieger; tutelage from the legendary Etta James; leading almost-stars Hollywood Underground in LA; singing on Venice boardwalk and working as a bus boy in Santa Monica burger joints. You name it: Jeff's been there. He's even described himself as "the world's worst waiter."
Well, we can only concur that catering's loss is our gain on discovering that Jeff's wealth of experiences (which have more recently also included time in San Francisco studying symphonic composition) have led him to make such a rich and resonant album as "Long Way To Go."
Admittedly, Laine's band here is to die for, featuring as it does personnel from Lucinda Williams' and Willie Nelson's bands, not to mention (wow!) Mr.Wayne Kramer from the MC5, but then even these sympathetic souls couldn't make such a difference if the source material wasn't there to begin with.
The deeply emotional title track kicks us off with curling, John Barry-esque tremelo guitars and peals of pedal steel. "I would not trade you for silver or gold," breathes Jeff ominously, and you just know he's deadly serious. It's an impressively expansive introduction and there's even better to come. "Dead Man" is up next: the kind of vivid, no-punches-pulled street scenario that would have Nick Cave rubbing his hands with glee, it finds Jeff relating stark truisms ("An unkind word is a dangerous thing, it hangs in the air like a ghost on a string") over a backing track pregnant with a reggae lope and Los Lobos-style Tex-Mex embellishments.
|
And talking of Mr.Cave and murder ballads, try the fantastic "Frankie And Johnny" on for size. They don't come much meaner than this great bar-room rocker, replete with enormous drums, snaky basslines, prime Keefchording and wailing blues harp. Its' diamond -hard tale of a woman scorned is truly something to behold. Couple this with the I-fought-the-law scenario of "'59 Les Paul" and the driving, amped-up blues of "Jack Me Up" and you're left with a gutteral outstanding of how hard Jeff Laine can rock.
This isn't the whole story, though, as there's an attractively tender side to Laine's oeuvre, allowing him to pull off songs like the accordion'n'mandolin lullabye of "Son" (an ode to Laine's son Maximilian), offbeat, chromatic narratives like "All The Way Down" and the expansive, element-fuelled romanticism of the closing "Mercy": the kind of thing U2 conjured up writing "All I want Is You."
The finest of our favourite Midwestern singer/ songwriters from Townes Van Zandt to Steve Earle and Vic Chesnutt have suffered similar slings and arrows en route to delivering awesome back catalogues. Jeff Laine certainly wouldn't be disgraced in such exalted company and has re-emerged with a winner in "Long Way To Go."
|
