Given that over the past six years, Drag The River have adhered pretty closely to the formula drawn up on 2000’s Hobo’s Demo’s – traditional themes of booze and women backed by an equally traditional combination of acoustic guitars, pedal steel, bass and drums – It’s Crazy would have to qualify as a great leap forward. For one, there’s the personnel shakeups. Woefully departed pedal steel / guitar player Zach Boddicker is replaced by “Spacey” Casey Prestwood, who fills Boddicker’s big-ass boots well, especially for a guy who used to be in Hot Rod Circuit. Also gone is Paul Rucker, who is a fantastic drummer, but his rock-oriented style tended to overwhelm more minimal songs. Even though new skinsman Dave Barker did time with Colorado punkers Pinhead Circus, he does a better job of holding back when it’s appropriate.

A similar change is that the band have almost completely weaned themselves off The Blasting Room: a great studio, but not for Drag The River, especially evident on Closed, which sounded as boring as if it had come out of Nashville. It’s Crazy was recorded in a handful of studios and garages acting as such. The best stuff, in fact, comes from the garage sessions. “Strange” and “The Cause & the Cure” are intimate and natural without sounding lo-fi. Just as good are the songs recorded at Hideway Studios way out in Salida, CO with Marc Benning. They retain the tight and close sound of the band’s Blasting Room stuff, but these songs sound more organic. “Me & Joe Drove Out to California…” rocks like it could’ve been on the last Armchair Martian record, breaking up the low-key vibe that marks the first half of It’s Crazy. Later on, the pace picks up with a three-song stretch of Bakersfield-style rockers, the best of which being guitarist/vocalist Jon Snodgrass’s “Cousins.” The other half of the songwriting duo, guitarist/vocalist Chad Price (also of All), shines more on the atmospheric “Beautiful & Damned” and on the opening cut, “Leavin’ in the Morning,” two of his best tunes to date. His usually plain delivery is more subtly affected here than ever before.

It’s Crazy ends with the title track, which is the entire album all over again, indexed as a single song. In light of Snodgrass’s previous hi-jinks in Armchair Martian (half and hour of flood noise on Monsters Always Scream and the entirety of Who Wants to Play Bass? replayed acoustically at the end), I thought he might have an obsessive-compulsive problem with dead space on CDs until someone tipped me off that the purpose is to make the whole album available for a single credit on the jukebox. That’s not a bad idea: sure to replace Sonic Youth’s “The Diamond Sea” as my favorite way to irritate people at the bar. But if it were up to me, I would’ve made that the only option. The tight sequencing and subtle segues between songs build a pace that makes It’s Crazy much more satisfying when taken from beginning to end.
www.dragtheriver.com
www.suburbanhomerecords.com

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Dave Schutz

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 Past Constructive Criticism

Virgil Dickerson posted the following Constructive Criticism: I just want to say thanks for the great review. And not just saying that because it is a favorible review. I can tell that you spent some time with the record and compared it to other records. That means a lot in a time when most reviewers are just keeping their head above the oversaturation of music promos. Thanks so much. Virgil

Lucas posted the following Constructive Criticism: Great review, and one of the few legitimately great Denver bands. We need less scenester bullshit and more Drag the Rivers in this fucking town.