But somehow, amidst the drugs and fighting and perversion, Pollock managed to create characters interesting beyond black curiosity, taking up the mantle of Southern greats such as William Gay and Flannery O’Connor in his ability to induce sympathy or at least complicate the antipathy his characters will garner. This style was developed (and potentially mastered) with Devil All The Time, his debut novel which cast the reader into world in which the membrane between reality and nightmare is leaky at best, with blood sacrifice and serial killer couples complicating an already bleak coming-of-age tale.

While Donald Ray Pollock’s latest novel, The Heavenly Table, takes us back to the 1917, it’s still rooted in the area of America he is making his own. The narrative is snappy and unsettled, the short chapters jumping between various locations and points of view, slowly drawing inwards in an inescapable ring which corrals the characters into the inevitable finale at the town of Meade. We have Ellsworth Fiddler, a swindled farmer trying to save face, Jasper Cone, a painfully afflicted sanitation inspector, Lieutenant Bovard, a jilted husband turned homoerotic (would be) war hero, and finally the luckless Jewett brothers, Cane, Cob and Chimney, who grow tired of the poor life and turn to robbing banks as a path to salvation.

With the graphic violence, crude sex and odd scatological humour, this appears to be more or less Pollock’s odd twist on the standard Western fare. Where things get interesting is that the Jewetts are inspired by a cheap dime novel, The Life and Times of Bloody Bill Bucket. Every cliche can therefore be read as a secondhand gesture, the Jewetts wearing Bloody Bill’s persona like a tacky fancy dress costume, hoping some of his magic (ie. his fictional bravado, success, imperiousness to pain/failure/death) might rub off on them. Furthermore, as their ‘spree’ gains traction so does the media’s reaction, with stories of ‘Jewett’ crimes emanating from newspapers in other areas and states, despite the brothers never having been there.

So not only are the boys distorting fiction into reality, but their reality is distorting into fiction, leaving them having to live up to the magnificent/terrifying tales on both ends. And while it’s apparent the trio are not well-equipped for such pressures, they sure give it their (quite literal) best shot, working on the logic of faking it ’til you make it:

‘Leaning over the horn of his saddle, Chimney spat and then said, “Well, I don’t know who those ol’ boys are back there, but I don’t figure they can shoot any better than we can.”

“Maybe, but there must be fifteen of them in that pack.”

“So?” Chimney said. “That many don’t even amount to one box of shells.”‘

Here are some dust-strewn, blood-spattered songs to listen to as you read.

Tracklisting:

1) Devil Town – Bright Eyes
2) Blood Red Sentimental Blues – Cotton Jones
3) Bury Me in the Garden – Tyler Butler and his Handsome Friends
4) Tom Justice, The Choir Boy Robber, Apprehended at Ace Hardware in Libertyville, IL – Casiotone For The Painfully Alone
5) Murderous Joy – Carter Tanton
6) Christ Jesus – Deer Tick
7) You Should’ve Seen the Other Guy – Nathaniel Rateliff
8) Buriedfed – Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson
9) Fire & Fast Bullets – Blitzen Trapper
10) Brother’s Blood – Kevin Devine
11) I Dreamt of My Brother Dying – Oscar Lush
12) Drunk and On a Star – Kevin Morby
13) Weather of a Killing Kind – The Tallest Man on Earth
14) Whore – Low
15) Liars – Gregory Alan Isakov and the Colorado Symphony
16) Closer to Heaven – Pink Mountaintops
17) Killer – Samantha Crain

The Heavenly Table is out now via Harvill Secker and Doubleday. You can read about Donald Ray Pollock’s other works on the Knopf Doubleday website.

The post Lit Links: Donald Ray Pollock – The Heavenly Table appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Recorded at the home studio of Kristian Matsson (AKA The Tallest Man on Earth), Lynx is a four-track release of uplifting folk songs. The trailer for the EP caught my attention a few months back, and goes a good way to capturing the essence of the songs. Watch below:

The EP opens with the title track, an upbeat, affirming song that falls somewhere between Gregory Alan Isakov and Great Lake Swimmers. Apparently written to his son, ‘Lynx’ speaks of perseverance and hope:

“But if you made it up to now,
you can make it one more time.

Life will burn your curls
and life will bleach your blue eyes
you must remember, child
that the storm will always abate.”

‘Carvaggio’s Hand’ is more restrained, a slower folk track along the same lines as Jose Gonzalez and Small Houses, while ‘Northern Nights’ sees the atmospheric rock return, with piano and percussion not dissimilar to that of Field Report supporting Svensson’s haunting, impassioned vocals.

“Oh baby you’re my rock bottom riser,
Gibraltar steady stands our love.
We fall together from the northern heights.
We burn together in the northern night.”

‘The Leaning Apple Tree’ see the tempo swing back to slow, a gentle country song concerning Svensson’s father (“I’m only passing your blood onto my child”). Again the vocals are front and centre, filled with energy and grace, elevating the track from a serene stroll into something profound and touching.

With Lynx, The Tarantula Waltz reminds us that no matter how hard, life holds pockets of goodness and wonder, providing moments of fierce, bright joy which light up the dark, like the four incandescent trees in a snow storm.

The EP will be released on the 20th May, when you will be able to get it via Woah Dad.

P.S. Svensson will be opening for Tallest Man on Earth on his European tour. I’d imagine the tickets are scarce but if you manage to get one then be sure to turn up early to see Svensson’s set.

23 June Koko, London (UK) *SOLD OUT*
24 June Openlucht Theater, Antwerp (BE)
25 June Divan du Monde, Paris (FR)
28 June Göta Lejon, Stockholm (SE)
29 June Göta Lejon, Stockholm (SE)
30 June Rockefeller, Oslo (NO)
02 July Pustervik, Goteborg (SE)

The post The Tarantula Waltz – Lynx EP appeared first on Various Small Flames.

We have followed Max Holmquist’s career with some admiration, first as South of Lincoln and then Great American Desert (which we wrote about here). Holmquist is now in a band called Oquoa and they have made their album available for free. Their sound is somewhere between Water Liars and Hip Hatchet, a restrained folky rock which has darkness and grief lurking just beneath the surface. Check out ‘Cigarettes’ below.

You can download the album for free here.

A Singer of Songs – From Hello to Goodbye

Barcelona-based folkster A Singer of Songs is back with From Hello to Goodbye, another album chock full of lovely lo-fi tunes recorded in his home studio. Some tracks are delicate (‘Sand in my Shoes’), some are a little more rambunctious (such as opener ‘Another Way of Saying Hello’), and all seem to have the curious sensation of being between times, as small moments of the past are opening up in the present. Maybe it’s the use of violins, trumpets and pianos or the slightly European street music vibe on tracks like ‘I’ll Follow You’. Maybe it’s just the cartographic artwork.

A Singer of Songs is attached to the Son Canciones label, and you can buy the album now from the A Singer of Songs’ Bandcamp page.

Steve Palmer – Unblinking Sun

Steve Palmer is a “Fahey nut and guitar obsessive” who has taken lessons from American Primitivism legend Peter Lang. It is perhaps unsurprising then that Palmer makes guitar driven instrumental music that combines the finger-picking of traditional US folk with more modern sounds of drone and krautrock. The result is a collection of long, complex acoustic songs peppered with ambient and psychedelic flourishes that lend a whole jazzy improvisation feel to things.

Unblinking Sun is being released by Dying for Bad Music.

Ezkiel – A New Mask

Ezkiel is Louis Monroe from New Orleans. A New Mask is his debut release and presents four dark and cinematic folk songs which explore the themes of change and rebirth. The EP was developed almost by accident, as part of a music production class that Monroe was taking at university. Monroe himself was required to production on a singer-songwriter record, but the recording artist pulled out last minute. This forced Monroe himself to record something and A New Mask was the end result. The tracks were recorded at home and have that intimate bedroom pop vibe which I really like. Grab it now via the Ezkiel Bandcamp page.

Charlie Rayne – Wider Waters

Last but not least is Wider Waters, a brilliant album by Beirut-based Charlie Rayne. Rayne makes glorious Dylan-style folk songs which twist and turn with a remarkable lyrical flow. The focus is very much on Rayne’s passionate deliver and the stories held within, the bare bones guitars providing the perfect counterbalance. If Sweden were to stake a claim on Bob Dylan reincarnate with Kristian Mattson, then I think we have to say that Beirut now have themselves a real rival. Get it via Bandcamp.

The post Feet on the Ground: Vol. 13 appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Rocks & Gravel sees a continuation of Klar’s brand of folk music, although he’s stepped it up a bit in terms of volume and dynamism. ‘Devil’s Bread’ is more blues-rock than folk, the gravelly vocals growling with a barely-restrained force. The title track is another bluesy rock affair, a bar room brawl compared to some of Klar’s more reserved moments, “Somebody tell my woman!” he yells during the chorus.

Speaking of reserved moments, the next track, ‘Can’t Help Thinkin It Was Easy’ is reminiscent of the self-titled EP, a quintessential folk song, with shades of Dylan, van Zandt et al. It’s a matter of personal preference but I prefer Klar in this mode. The lyrics are the ramblings of of a wandering man:

“Now I’m watching the road running under the wheels
And I’ll daydream the next hundred miles

Rolling down with the night
the hills and these eastern pines”

‘Ride On’ is another lovely folk song, with a strong The Tallest Man On Earth vibe, and closer ‘Ham & Eggs’ is as bluesy as they come, a foot-tapping shuffle backed by Klar’s signature whiskey-soaked vocals.

The EP is available for $10 and comes in handmade, one of a kind packaging. You can also download it for however much you feel like paying. Get it via the Jake Klar Bandcamp. If you’re a fan of Klar’s previous work, or of folk/blues/rock then I’d highly suggest giving it a shot.

The post Jake Klar – Rocks & Gravel EP appeared first on Various Small Flames.

The post Jake Klar appeared first on Various Small Flames.