Listening to Johnny Dowd’s music is a little bit like coming upon a crusty old country singer/preacher backed by the full-on soul power grooving of Booker T. & the MG’s. Not merely a work about dangerous verbiage, Cruel Words is much grander than that; it attempts to take on the whole big cruel world as well. Dowd may seem to chronicle the same backwoods regions Flannery O’Connor once traversed with her gripping short stories, but this musical artist’s viewpoint takes a wide angle look at a few universal themes as well. It might begin in the South, but it doesn’t remain there. Presumably inspired by the goings-on in Iraq, “Praise God� describes the Hades in military conflict when Dowd grunts “Drop a dime down a wicked well/Praise God, war is hell.� He faces off with the demon of alcohol during “Drunk� by begging, “Oh what I’d give for a drink� along with the vocal help of Jon Langford and Sally Timms. It all might have sounded like some crazy ranting if it weren’t for the tight musicianship of drummer Brian Wilson and Michael Stark’s colorful organ and synthesizer. And let’s not forget Dowd’s own inventive guitar work. He’s certainly no slouch as a player, and is most impressive when he lays down some twisted, Marc Ribot-esque electric guitar lines during “Ding Dong.�
Dowd’s latest is a perfect combination of cruel words and cool music.
- Dan MacIntosh
Release date: July 4, 2006
