The Service Industry - Calm Down (Sauspop 2010)

For their fourth release, Austin's The Service Industry leave behind the simmering rage of the overlooked and underappreciated and move in a more personal direction. The band's success in achieving this so gracefully should dispel any misperceptions that this is a gimmick band. The Service Industry deliver 12 nearly flawless pop cuts that range from the jangly to garagey, low key to the energetic.

Opener "Heart Repair" is a chunky piece of melancholia that expands into a soaring melodic chorus and kicks the feel of the record off in the right direction. Remaining true to the record's vibe but exemplifying its range of styles and influences, Julie Lowery takes lead vocal from Mike McCoy on the Reivers meets The B-52s college rock of "Honey and Hair Sprayed Hair". There's so much going on here stylistically that it took real artistry to avoid disjointedness and have everything fall together so well.

Complaints? Minor to insignificant. For example, "This Town Makes My Skin Crawl" draws out a little bit too long. But it's still a damn good song.

As prolific as these folks are (what is this? The fourth release in two years?) it won't be too long before we see which way The Service Industry jumps next. So far it continues to be up.

3.75 out of 4 heart repairs

The Service Industry - "Limited Coverage" (Sauspop 2008)

There's nothing like the sense of anticipation waiting on the drop date for a record you can't wait to hear. It provides a great sense of relief and satisfaction when said record is everything you'd hoped it would be. Limited Coverage is one of those records.

Following up last years vitriolic debut Ranch is the New French The Service Industry once again doles out ten American working class screeds (plus a more than servicable Undertones cover), tongue firmly in cheek. Or maybe not so much in cheek. The songs generally cover topics like unreasonable bosses, ignorant customers who treat those waiting on them as servants, if they notice them at all, and other scourges of those in service jobs taken for granted by those more "successful" in our society.

It helps that songwriters Mike McCoy and Hunter Darby have joined forces on this project (they also worked together in the terrific, if slightly unfocused, garage band The American People) as they not only have, in spades, the personal experience to lend solid authenticity to these songs, but also happen to be outstanding songwriters each in their own right. McCoy fronted legendary Kansas City pop-punk outfit Cher UK, and Darby was 1/2 the inspired songwriting team behind Austin's storied power pop troopers The Wannabes. You can count on the results of these two working together being greater than the sum of their parts. In addition, Julie Lowery provides soaring harmony vocals and contributes a song of her own, "JoJo", and Andy Thomas and Robbie Araiza provide spotless guitars. Also a treat is the appearance of punk elder statesman Curt Kirkwood, main man behind The Meat Puppets, lending his guitar talents here and there. As these are veterans all, it would be a surprise if this record was anything less than a home run.

Limited Coverage is a college rock record in the best possible sense of the term. The bile of Ranch is the New French is toned down without losing any of the seething angst and, let's face it, hilarity (deliberately or not) that characterized that record. You have catchy sing alongs like "Job of Quality" and "They Fired Me" amongst, for the most part, accessible and hooky pop gems. McCoy's more experimental side surfaces on the Caribbean sounding rhythms of "Valhalla" and his punk roots shine through on the hysterical "Zippy's Lament", a song that anyone who's worked in customer service will strongly identify with. The Darby penned "Hollywood Out of Austin" provides an all too accurate portrayal of Austin's celebrity "guests", their sense of entitlement, and the locals' increasing frustration with it. Dropped right in the middle of this album's tirade is a fantastic cover of "You've Got My Number (Why Don't You Use It?)" by The Undertones which, while it doesn't necessarily fit the theme of the the record, certainly maintains the pervasive sense of frustration.

Curt Kirkwood's unmistakable guitar playing, most apparent on "They Fired Me", "Hollywood Out of Austin", and "Zippy's Lament", is delightful to hear and perfectly integrated into the songs. Kirkwood's been steady in his output over the last few years, but with the release of the latest Meat Puppets full length (Rise To Your Knees, Anodyne Records 2007) and his contribution here his inspiration seems to be firing on all cylinders again. That this is immensely to the benefit of rock 'n' roll in general should be obvious to everyone paying attention.

While "Have To Go To Work", with its exceedingly clever existential lyric cycle, is the strongest track here, there's not a weak one among them. The feel of the record hearkens back to the the college rock of the 1980's, right down to the very Reivers-esque bridge on "Now Wake Up and Die", and hearing a straight up honest to God hard pop album in the midst of all the current post-post modern crap or whatever they're calling it is damn refreshing. The songs are rock solid and hooky, and the concept of the band is timely and justifiably self-righteous without losing its sense of humor.

My only concern is that one of the main strengths of The Service Industry, its concept, could end up being its Achilles heel as well. How many times will this trick pony jump? That being said, with this group of people in the saddle you can always count on them having an endless supply of tricks up their sleeve.

Limited Coverage releases Feb. 19th, 2008 on Sauspop Records (http://www.sauspop.com/).

4 out of 4, kiddos.

T. Tex Edwards & Out on Parole - "Pardon Me, I've Got Someone To Kill" (Saustex 2007)

Thom "Tex" Edwards has led a storied career - drop in just about anywhere and you're going to find something interesting. His Dallas based punk band The Nervebreakers may have played the first punk show in Dallas in 1977. They opened for The Sex Pistols at The Longhorn Ballroom in 1978. The Nervebreakers also backed up Roky Erikson in 1979 at The Dallas Palladium. By the end of their run in 1981 they were considered the biggest band in Dallas. "Move It", a staple of Tex's SoCal based rockabilly outfit Loafin' Hyenas, was recorded by The LeRoi Brothers. Those are the high points. That's a pretty solid career right there for an underground musician. But after all this T. Tex, for all intents and purposes, went solo.

"Pardon Me, I've Got Someone To Kill" was initially released in 1989 on Sympathy for the Record Industry and, after an all too brief flash as a "novelty record", slowly faded into obscurity. Hearing the remastered re-issue of this record (plus one unreleased track) is like a breath of fresh air for those that appreciate the below the radar, native Texan country music that displays an irreverent love of the genre.

This record is T. Tex paying a kind of twisted tribute to country songs about prison, murder and excess that span decades. Not that many of these songs need much more twisting. Most stick to traditional country arrangements and instrumentation, but that's by no means the whole story. You get Edward's take on The Bugs' 1964 freakshow "Strangler in the Night", which has lyrics penned by Albert DeSalvo, AKA The Boston Strangler. The version on this record far out does the original, with Edward's manic spoken word vocal over placid, almost Hawaiian music a paragon of sheer lunacy. Then you have the cover of Porter Wagoner's (remember him? He launched Dolly Parton's career) already exceedingly strange "Rubber Room" which, unlikely as it may seem, adds an endearingly psychotic charm to the song. Also standing out is Eddie Noack's "Dolores", bringing in a latin 8ths beat and a distinctively Western feel.

I could go on and on about the unique spins T. Tex Edwards puts on songs by everyone from Johnny Paycheck to Lee Hazlewood to Country Swing pioneer Howard Crockett, but it's better left for you to explore for yourselves. While this record is certainly de rigeur listening for late night booze and drug fueled parties, it's also a blast to listen to just about any other time. Fabulous Thunderbirds/LeRoi Bros. drummer Mike Buck's production does a wonderful job of conveying the sense that the wheels could fly off at any second while Edward's appealingly loose vocal melodies keep everything strung together. These guys clearly had a lot of fun making this record, and it's infectious.

In my research for this review I ran across quite a few write-ups decrying this record for treating what are essentially dark topics in a jocular and irreverent way. I couldn't disagree more. Poking fun at the darkness is one of the most positive ways we humans deal with the bad cards we get dealt and the insanity pervasive in the world around us. As many a Texan has been heard to say, "Gallows humor - without it we'd all lose our lunch."

T. Tex Edwards' stuff, along with much more, is available at http://www.saustexmedia.com/.

Rating: 4 out of 4

Stevie Tombstone - "Devils Game" (Saustex 2007)

Stevie Tombstone has been kicking around, largely underappreciated, for more than 20 years. His seminal Atlanta, GA based "swampabilly" outfit The Tombstones made a few deserved waves in the late 1980's and have resurfaced sporadically through the present day. In between these reunions he's been turning out some damn impressive solo efforts, and Devils Game is a nice overview of his early years as a solo artist.

Devils Game is a compendium of Tombstone's now difficult to find 1999 release Second Hand Sin, three acoustic versions of Tombstones songs, released in 2000 as Acoustica, recorded live at at the Atlanta Tattoo Arts Festival, and a few alternate song versions, compilation contributions and other odds and ends to finish things off. While this description may give the impression that this record is disjointed, nothing could be farther from the truth. If anything this packaging illustrates Tombstone's sonic consistency and his ability as a songwriter.

What springs immediately to mind upon listening to Devils Game is Tombstone's vocal similarity to Jason and the Scorchers' Jason Ringenberg, although the style and themes differ considerably. These two artists may be mining the same mountain, but they've struck very different veins. It's a credit to Second Hand Sin's producer, Scorchers bassist Jeff Johnson, that he didn't succumb to what must have been a temptation to influence these songs in a Scorchers direction and instead created a sound that complements Tombstone's melancholic, cautionary tales and murder songs.

This part of the record is characterized by booming acoustic guitars backed with fuzzy electrics, slide guitar and pedal steel, all overlaid with Tombstone's by turns weary and passionate vocals. A couple of departures arrive with "Same Old Tune", a straight up country tune, and "'Til the Day I Die", a loping country prison/murder song complete with sawing violin. While these two may jump out the most, all of the Second Hand Sin songs stand on their own legs. The different story each has to tell and the subtle variations in instrumentation make for a very satisfying listen.

As mentioned above, the Acoustica part of the record was recorded live. I'm not given to appreciating live recordings, but Acoustica works for me on two levels. First is the remarkable sonic similarity to the Second Hand Sin tracks - clean up the audio slightly and get rid of the crowd noise and these three tracks could have easily been the last three on Second Hand Sin. Second, the songs here are acoustic reworkings of three of The Tombstones songs, featuring Stevie Tombstone on acoutic guitar and vocals accompanied by Tony Fox on sax and violin. It's really very entertaining hearing these songs performed this way and the the fact that they work as well as they do is a testament to Tombstone's ability.

The bonus tracks that finish off Devils Game are a pleasant surprise in an era when bonus tracks tend to be second rate studio outtakes and poor recordings of songs that didn't work. The first is a Stonesy rock alternative take of "Same Old Tune" which has every bit as much going for it as the countrified album version. "Folsom Prison Blues" is a servicable take on the Johnny Cash classic, from the Dear Johnny tribute record, which surely brought a smile to The Man in Black's face. You get "So God Damned Lonely", which is a straight up country rock/cowpunk rumbler very much in the Jason and the Scorchers tradition. "Old Wedding Ring" is a dark, powerful rumination on a failed relationship that might be the best on the record. Finally, you reach the closer, "Christmas on Red River", a blue-collar take on the ugly side of Christmas that wouldn't have been out of place on one of Waylon Jennings late 70's releases.

Hickoids frontman Jeff Smith's Saustex label is doing a hell of a job getting deserving records out there that have been lost in the shuffle, and promoting the artists responsible for same in their current endeavors. Stevie Tombstone is an excellent example, and Devils Game is well worth picking up both for those unfamiliar with his work and for fans who have been hopefully waiting to see this material released on CD.

You can find Devils Game, Stevie Tombstone's other work (solo and with The Tombstones), and a ton of other cool stuff at http://www.saustexmedia.com/.

Rating: 3.5 out of 4