Son Volt's The Search

It's hard for me to review the new release The Search by Alt-country legends Son Volt. There's two main reasons for this. First, Uncle Tupelo's legendary front man Jay Farrar founded Son Volt after Uncle Tupelo broke up as a result of the rift between Farrar and Tweedy. Uncle Tupelo is my favorite band of all time, and to me, nothing should have broken up a band started between two men who had so much to offer musically that they practically gave birth to a new style of music. However, they did let feelings get in the way and from words you here them say about one another in interviews, it seems like the time was right to separate and to stop letting the other one from driving them crazy.

The second reason why it's unfair for me to review Son Volt is because of their new bassist, Andrew Duplantis. He's an extraordinary bassist who I met in Austin, Texas. Besides Son Volt, he's played with the Meat Puppets/Royal Neanderthal Orchestra, the Dismukes, Buick McCain (Alejandro Escovedo's band), and even opened for Bob Mould. Andrew and his talented drummer roommate, Eric Kahn, lived in the other half of the duplex I lived in. These two men couldn't have been more committed to their craft. However, we always seemed to find time to unwind with one another and to share our love of music. Now Andrew was known for being able to lay down some serious bass, and he knew that I loved Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt, and Wilco. But at the time, I never pictured him picking up and playing with such a band because he seemed to enjoy playing much harder music. Well, he's proven me wrong, he fits in Son Volt just perfectly. Now if I can just get them to come through Boise, I'd have permagrin for a month.

The Search starts of with "Slow Hearse," which right from the start lets you know that you're into Farrar's serious, almost morose, world. He's one of America's greatest song writers, but his songs seem to reveal a heartfelt sense of loss. From there the disc moves on to "The Picture" which seems to be uncharacteristically happy for Farrar. It's opening barrage of horns and a quick beat let you know that Farrar is bordering on some uncharted territory. Next, the album turns to "Action." It's lyrics are still very serious, but it opens up with some heavy jamming, the kind that would make me think that Duplantis is smiling wide.

Son Volt seems to really open up from this point of the album on. Songs such as "Beacon Soul," "Circadian Rhythm," title track "The Search," and "Satellite" reflect the Uncle Tupelo days of Farrar, in which he feels comfortable experimenting with sounds that not only show how deep his lyrics are but how awe inspiring his music can be.