The album is taken from the nickname of producer Jerry Erickson, who also plays a cameo role playing pedal steel on the country orientated 'Kelly'. That song is a good example of the rowdy romanticism and good humour of the band, documenting the despair of unrequited love which falls short of suicide only because the ceilings of the trailor home are too low to hang a rope.
The driving force of the trio from Bloomington, Illinois is Alex Smith who wrote all but one of the eight songs and plays lead guitar and sings. Actually to say he 'sings' is somewhat misleading as it would be more accurate to say he shouts with style, try to imagine The Decembrists' Colin Meloy after one drink too many and you won't be far off.
The one non-original track on the album is what they describe as an "affectionate and teasingly disrespectful cover" of Pink Floyd's 'Time', which is here rendered all but unrecognisable until the guitar refrain kicks in. To say that it's loose is putting it mildly.
There is minimal overdubbing throughout to give the record a very rough and ready feel. I don't think they do themselves too many favours by this approach as the ragged immediacy means that the charm is not one that endures long.
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They're at their best when the tongue in cheek qualities hit home as on the great line "Farewell sobriety - hello distillery" on the boozy opening track , "From the McLean Co Lockup" . Their anti SUV anthem 'Truculent' ("Nice truck asshole!") is also good fun and I'm sure a real crowd pleaser at their live shows.
They probably go overboard in emphasing the raw energy - a few more subtle touches wouldn't have gone amiss. As it they run through the songs as if they want to drown out the loudmouths at the bar rather than impress listeners in the relative calm of their own homes.
A good record to upset the neighbours all the same.
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