By Ken Paulson–On the new Shovels and Rope album, O’ Be Joyful, there’s a recording of a club manager admonishing the audience to listen to the band and not talk.
That shouldn’t have been a problem. It’s very hard to talk with your jaw dropped.
Shovels and Rope are just that surprising. The Charleston, South Carolina duo of Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent combine highly literate lyrics with an anything-goes sound, driven by guitars, harmonica and a drum found in the garbage. It’s low-fi music with high expectations.
An Americana White Stripes comes to mind, an obvious comparison when a man and woman deliver a raucous sound over barebones instrumentation and driving riffs. But Shovels and Rope also boast highly distinctive, often quirky narratives that defy an easy read.
Anything’s fair game for Shovels and Rope. “Hail Hail, ” for example, incorporates Chuck Berry and Dixieland horns to create something fresh, yet totally familiar.
Inspirational verse from album opener “Birmingham:” “From the Crescent City to the Great Salt Lake, it ain’t what you got, it’s what you make.”
O’ Be Joyful is very well made and one of the best Americana albums of the year.
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