ikejiri

Born in the USA
From the mid 80s thump and synth of the opening bars of Born in the USA it’s hard to reconcile this being birthed from the same initial demos as Nebraska, even if thematically they are akin.

The song and album cover remain a tentpole childhood memory for me, I remember my parents vinyl copy and them recording it onto cassette for me, there’s something about the synth riff, chorus and drums that was very appealing to 8 year old me, even if I was completely oblivious to the lyrics.

It’s interesting that Cover Me was written for Donna Summer, and you can definitely hear an echo of disco in the drums, and while it may not be lyrically top tier it's an incredibly catchy track. As are Darlington County, Working on the Highway, Downbound Train and the creepily excellent I’m On Fire.

In fact nearly every song is insanely catchy and memorable, I suppose that's why there were so many singles from the album, continuing on the second side with No Surrender, Bobby Jean and I’m Goin’ Down, before the superlative trio of Glory Days, Dancing in the Dark and My Hometown.

Obviously he has always played with catchiness and anthemic songs, but they have often been shot through with despondency and despair, that the promised escape will never arrive and the protagonist knows they will be stuck. While there are still moments like that on hear, as in the title track, there are also some sparks of life or steelines or hope, eg the desire of I’m On Fire or the fuck it let’s dance of Dancing in the Dark.

It’s a truly great album for many reasons; excellent songs, great melodies, bombastic production, great stories and a load of nostalgia. 5.
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Playlist submission: Born in the USA

Throwing Muses
I was really intrigued by the first track, it has a bit of early REM to the guitar and some Siouxsie Sioux/new wave to the drums and vocals, making a great track and confounding my assumption that this would be generic alt rock, especially with the folky/shanty breakdown, and the overall idiosyncratic and direct vocals and lyrics.

Based on that I feel I should have really liked the rest of it, but I kept finding myself tuning out, struggling to latch on to much of it over my first listen. I did start to get into a little more on repeat listens, but I think there is a marked lull from Green to Rabbits Dying, with it only really picking up with the punkish rockabilly of America (She Can’t Say No), the vaguely alt-funk country of Stand Up, the quirkily structured and excellent Soul Soldier.

There’s enough interesting stuff to come back to, even if it’s never going to be a favourite so I’ll go for 3.
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Playlist submission: Call Me or Soul Soldier, I’ll go Call Me

Stephen Stills
Goddamn hippies

I really loved this, it shares a similarity to If I Could Only Remember My Name, as you might expect, but with an earthier, bluesier tone to it compared to Crosby’s more hippified psychedelia, although both sharing similarly stereotypical late 60s lyrical themes.

Love the One You’re With is a banger, although I do prefer the Isley Brothers version, Do for the Others is a lovely tune and Church has a great touch of gospel a la some of Exile. Old Times and Go Back Home are a perhaps slight step down from those three tracks even with Jimi and Eric appearing, but Sit Yourself Down is excellent, with more of the Gospel blues feel, and very Still-esque melody. Ringo provides some lovely subtlety to To a Flame, and it sort of reminds me of a Neil song. Black Queen I can take or leave, but I like the sitar-soul-funk of Cherokee a great deal. Is We are Not Helpless an answer to Helpless from Deja Vu earlier in the year? I presume so, and it's another great gospel tinged track, with a slight Pepperness to the horns, and more hippie children are the future lyrics.

I thought this was a great album, maybe not top tier but thoroughly enjoyable and a bit of a gem.
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Playlist submission: Love the One You’re With

Dummy
Straight off the bat this is obviously a 5, one of those albums I knew through school and uni osmosis, although I didn’t really become properly familiar with it until much later, getting into it fully after Third was released.

Mysterons, Sour Times and Glory Box obviously stand out and I think it's great how they bookend the album, but it really works so well as a wholly coherent album, with consistent elements and styles running throughout the songs, creating a beautifully atmospheric record. The touchpoints are clear; 60s cinema, hip hop inspired beats and sampling, Massive Attack style atmospherics, but what really elevates it is Adrian Utley’s spidery guitars and Beth Gibbon’s enigmatic and arresting vocals.

It still sounds fresh and exciting, even though it’s been aped and ripped off many times, and there’s nothing in a similar vein that comes close to touching the recondite heaviness of the atmospheres they create, while also being as emotionally affecting as something like It Could Be Sweet.

As I say I love the whole, but to pick out a couple of songs; I love the hints at Western soundtracks on Wandering Star, with the harmonica and twangy guitar interwoven with scratching. The Swelling organs and strings on It’s A Fire are gorgeous, and I love the underwateriness on Numb. Roads is another great track, the slow march of the percussion with the guitars and the strings is fantastic.

Great album, easy 5.
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Playlist submission: Obvious, but Sour Times

Green River
_Wroashongfevryone_

I think I’ve reached saturation point with covers of Night Time is the Right Time, I find the song disproportionately annoying, and the version on here slightly sours what is an enjoyable if not top tier CCC album.

Bad Moon Rising has never really suffered for me from its ubiquity, it remains a superbly evocative song. Alongside that Green River, Commotion and Cross Tie Walker are typically great choogling CCC songs, combining that warm swampy admixture of blues, soul, country, pop and 50s rock’n’roll. Wrote a Song For Everyone is great as well, one of the slow moving and moving CCC songs. Sinister Purpose carries a nice hint of the title, with a little bit of a funk groove and you can feel the steam rising off the swamp in front of the porch they’re playing on. Tombstone Shadow is probably the weakest track, but Lodi is my favourite, one of their best, a melancholic tale of a down on his luck singer, the shuffle echoing the inevitability of his fate.

It doesn’t quite reach the heights of Cosmo’s Factory but it’s a rock solid CCC album, showing their ability to elevate relatively straightforward arrangements into compelling soulful country rock.
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Playlist submission: Lodi