Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit
(Lightning Rod)
Lord, how did the boy get this good? As fine a platter as 2007's Sirens of the Ditch was, and as much promise as Isbell demonstrated during his Drive-By Truckers tenure, nobody could've been prepared for the across-the-board quality, and passion, on display here. The fact that Isbell's second solo album is a genuine band effort (Sirens featured an array of Truckers and session players) comes into play, of course; touring with the same guys for over a year until you're so tight your pants squeak when you walk never hurts.
But... whew. From the playing to the arrangements to the lyrical depth of emotion on display, not to mention the rich Southern soul vibe coaxed from the if-walls-could-talk confines of Muscle Shoals' Fame Studios, this eponymous platter is a scorcher. Isbell's smoky, pleading vocals have never been better, and on tracks such as slide-guit choogler "Seven-Mile Island," the Replacements-like "Good," the gospellish, Otis Redding-styled "No Choice in the Matter" and the glowing, spangly pop of "Soldiers Get Strange" (a sibling to Sirens' "Dress Blues" - Isbell has an uncommon empathy for veterans), he's as masterful an emoter and narrator as a wizened bluesman thrice his age.
It's the confessional "Cigarettes and Wine," however, that'll bring you to your knees: as the 400 Unit caresses a waltz-time blues motif behind him, Isbell revisits the good, the bad and the ugly of a broken romance, and when he gets to the heartbreaking lines, "She lives down inside of me still/Rolled up like a twenty-dollar bill," there's no way that anybody who's ever loved, and lost, won't feel a lump in the back of the throat and a dampness in the corner of the eye.
Oh, and about that "10" rating I'm awarding the album? That signifies "will still be deemed a classic in 20 years time." I stand behind that goddam rating, too.
Standout Tracks: "Cigarettes and Wine," "Soldiers Get Strange" FRED MILLS
