No art-school pretensions or cynical postmodern retrograde
antics. No smoldering laptop beats or reflexive lyrical
hall-of-mirrors. Ned Van Go (complete with its Blue-collar
bite outta “art” namesake pun) delivers
capable, straightforward backyard barbeque rock, accented
by country-western styled everyman humility and plucky,
reliable instrumentation. That is, until some serious
uneducated blunders pop up.
Throughout the album, the band blends Bob Dylan chord
structures, smart production and Warren Zevon-style,
uber-relatable charm into small town ditties (complete
with stereotypical characterizations and prejudices
dressed up as cutesy idiosyncrasy). “Charlene” utilizes
honky-tonk piano, hiccupping major chords and wisps of Wurlitzer to echo the
protagonist’s nascent lovelorn emotions and establish a catchy-as-hell
rock N roll feel. “Marry A Waitress” wrestles with old fashioned
Americana romance and finger-picked folksiness, all while fully ingrained in
the male perspective: “Think I’ll marry a waitress/ A Southern football
queen/ Picks up her tips and keeps the counter clean.” “Death By
Polygamy” sports a funky distorted chortle and skronk simplicity while
weaving a Bonnie and Clyde caricature that emerges as a light-hearted standout. “Country
Girl” and “Factory Blues” are well-produced
songs, entirely embedded in imaginary Blue-collar lifestyles.
However, despite some good-times tunage, Ned Van Go
taints this disc with some major missteps. “Granny Is A Racist” and “Never Kissed A Girl” are
unforgivable (and ultimately ugly) attempts at lightening up Southern tendencies
toward racism and homophobia (the former has even been outfitted with a “Prelude” that
comes off like a cheap afterthought warning) and in
the end strip Ned Van Go of any prospect of success
(creative or monetary) beyond smoky bars filled with
high-school dropouts.
Favorite Track: Track 1, "Charlene”
